


Conscripts

by DoctorpooandtheTURDIS



Series: 1287 [2]
Category: Halo (Video Games) & Related Fandoms, Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, No Romance, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:40:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 36,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23780053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoctorpooandtheTURDIS/pseuds/DoctorpooandtheTURDIS
Summary: In Hawkins, Indiana, a young girl has just torn open a hole between worlds, releasing an inhuman monster into the world.At the same time, though high above, the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn drifts into orbit, and It's lone human occupant finally awakens.So, how did they meet again?
Series: 1287 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1713106
Comments: 13
Kudos: 36





	1. Chapter 1

_“Wake up, John.”_

The words filled his mind as cold air filled his lungs and bit his skin. He groaned to himself as awareness of his surroundings returned, and he could feel the tell-tale signs of freezerburn on patches of his skin.

“Chief, can you hear me?” A feminine voice filled the SPARTAN’s ears, like Dr. Halsey’s, but younger.

The SPARTAN’s eyes creaked open, and he looked around.

Through the thick glass of the cryo-tube, the Chief could see a glowing blue point of light in the distance. “Cortana?”

“Yep!” The AI responded in a chipper manner. “Miss me?”

“Where are we?” He immediately asked, trying to get his bearings. The constant dreams he experienced in the cryo-tube playing havok on his memory.

“Still adrift on the _Dawn.”_ She answered, and the Chief could see free-floating chunks of debris fall to the ground as the artificial gravity systems kicked back on.

“For how long?” The SPARTAN questioned, noting the thick layer of ice and snow that built up in the cryobay.

“Four years, seven months, ten days.” Cortana replied. “Look up, you’ll need to pull manual release.”

Wasting no time, the SPARTAN did as he was told, reaching up to grab the lever at the top of the cryo-tube. He pulled it down, and the hatch on the tube swung up, allowing the SPARTAN to exit. “That long?” He questioned, titanium boots hitting the deck. Somebody should’ve found us by now.”

“They have.” Cortana replied, smiling as the SPARTAN approached. The smile left her holographic face, and she reconsidered her words. “Or rather, we found them.”

“Found who?” He asked, reaching for her chip as her avatar disappeared from the pedestal. He pulled the chip and didn’t even hesitate before inserting it into the back of his helmet. Cortana’s own presence filled the back of his head, ice cold and like mercury.

This time, Cortana’s voice filled his mind, coming from every direction. “Well, Chief, it’s…” For the first time, Cortana seemed to be stumped. “It’s Earth.”

“Earth?” The SPARTAN frowned.

“I know what you’re thinking.” Cortana immediately rushed. “If the portal dropped us close enough to drift into orbit within a few years, how come we haven’t been rescued already?”

The Chief nodded, grabbing the MA5B assault rifle from its place in the weapons cabinet. He slung it onto the back of his armor, and did the same with a Magnum, placing it on the magnetic holster on his upper right leg.

“The blunt answer is; I don’t know. Before you say anything, yes, it happens.” Cortana defended, and the SPARTAN was quick to snort. “But _wrong_.”

“How?” The SPARTAN questioned, filling the ammo belt on his armor with spare magazines and grenades.

“Chief… it’s quiet.” Cortana said, speaking in an almost fearful tone. “There’s no UNSC comm traffic, of any kind. And I don’t mean just around Earth, the entire _Sol System_ is dark. I’m not even detecting Covenant comm activity. But there is something else…”

“What do you mean, ‘Something else?’” The SPARTAN asked.

“…Here, I’m routing it through your suit’s radio.” The AI stated, and the radio crackled to life.

An eerie synth tone filled the SPARTAN’s ears, an intro to a piece of music, no doubt, and a man began singing.

 _“We passed up on the stair, we spoke of was and when…”_ The man sung, and the SPARTAN was confused.

“Is that classical music?” The Chief questioned, pushing the song out of his mind. “Did you accidentally tune in to a retro station?”

“Chief, you don’t understand…” Cortana began. “It’s like this across the whole planet. Every single commercial broadcast I can pick up, they’re all playing music from before _1983._ Now one station? That’s normal. Three or four stations, an amazing coincidence. But _every single civilian radio station_ on the planet?”

“What about military?” The Chief questioned, as the pit in his stomach deepened.

“It took me one-sixteenth of a picosecond to break through their encryption.” Cortana said gravely. “I would be proud, but their encryptions are so primitive… I’m sorry Chief, but it’s all pointing to one thing.”

“The portal sent us back in time?” The SPARTAN’s incredulousness at the very idea was apparent, even with his normal stoic tone.

“I know, I know,” Cortana began, knowing that it sounded insane. “But remember what happened on the _Ascendant Justice-Gettysburg?_ We know that the Forerunner crystal caused time displacement in slipspace, it’s not crazy to think that other Forerunner slipspace tech can cause similar effects, on larger scales.”

“So,” The Master Chief inhaled, “What’s the plan?”

“Well, I would suggest using the slipspace drive to get us to safe interstellar space, and just wait it out until we make it back around, but all of those systems were in the fore section when it got sheared off.”

“Can we fix them?” The SPARTAN questioned, “Use tech from down there to jury rig something?”

“Chief, the most powerful computer down there doesn’t even have the same amount of processing power as a COM Pad.1 “

“I see.” The SPARTAN sighed. “Then the mission becomes asset denial. Set the _Dawn’s_ reactors to blow.”

Cortana stayed silent for a moment. “I can set the _Dawn’s_ slipspace engine to activate remotely. Without the navcomputer, the ship will be teleported into oblivion. But before we leave, there’s something you should probably get.” A navpoint flickered into existence on the SPARTAN’s HUD, and he obligingly followed it.

The _Forward Unto Dawn’s_ corridors were cramped, like any other military ship. The Chief found that, in his experience, even the largest military vessel had some of the most cramped and uncomfortable spaces on any production starship. It didn’t matter much at the end of the day, he spent much of his time on the ground, or in cryo for it to be a problem.

The supersoldier turned a corner, and the armory door slid open, still receiving power.

“There.” Cortana directed his attention to the corner of the room. “An active camouflage module, ONI made sure to keep a least a few armor ability modules in storage, just in case.” Cortana explained, as the Chief picked up the device, and attached it to the back of his suit. “Looks like your luck keeps holding out. The module was designed to work with Mark V armor, but I think I can get it working with a little bit of finagling. Now, unless you wanna use a chunk of the ship’s hull as a heat shield, you should probably grab that reentry unit.” She directed, putting a navpoint over a backpack-like attachment on the wall. The SPARTAN grabbed the metal backpack and slid it onto his armor where his larger weapons normally set.

“There, it’s not as safe as a SOEIV, but it’ll do.” Cortana chirped. “Get to an airlock. The depressurization should catapult us far enough away from the ship to not get caught in the slipspace rupture.”

The SPARTAN nodded, and turned on his heel, following the navpoints laid out for him once more. His boots clanged against the metal of the deck, and as he approached the airlock, he began steeling himself.

What would it be like down there? Humans were still humans, no matter what time period one hailed from, though part of John wanted the people down there to be similar, the other part of him wanted them to be as different as possible. Like the shock of jumping into a pool, and not easing into it, he hoped the shock of things being so different would desensitize him quickly.

And as the Master Chief stepped into the airlock, he checked and re-checked the reentry unit, and took a deep breath.

“Ready?” He registered Cortana asking of him.

The SPARTAN nodded, though it wasn’t strictly necessary. “Ready.”

The Master Chief hit the button, without waiting for the cycle to finish, and was ejected out into space.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !: The COM Pad is basically a 26th century cell phone.


	2. The Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After landing in the small town of Hawkins, the Master Chief and Cortana decide to do a little bit of recon to get handle on the unfamiliar time period they've found themselves in. But something alien stirs in the darkness, and soon, the SPARTAN finds himself pulled into a new fight.

It was a normal, sleepy night for the town of Hawkins, Indiana. Well, technically speaking, it was a very early Sunday morning.

One o’clock, an hour that only those working the night shift, or those that were cramming for a test, were up at. It was at this sleepy hour, under the cover of night, that unbeknownst to the town of Hawkins, an otherworldly presence was arriving on Earth.

Some might have mistook it for a meteor, as it burned as it lanced across the sky, but this was no rock.

On a tiny farm on the outskirts of Hawkins, the impact of the object kicked up dirt and ashes, digging a crater into the ground.

And at the bottom, John-117 hoisted himself to his feet.

“Chief, next time one of us gets the bright idea to have you jump onto a planet from outer space… Do me a favor and remind me to stay back.” The AI said, feeling the SPARTAN’s pain through the neural interface. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

“That crash was bound to wake someone up.” The SPARTAN said.

“Right.” The AI agreed. “There are some woods not far to the northeast. We can figure out where to go from there.”

The SPARTAN nodded, and set off, disappearing into the dark woods of the night.

* * *

For Chief Jim Hopper of the Hawkins Police Department, the morning was like any other. His TV blared in the background, being left on from the night before, and he was sprawled out across his couch.

The chirping of birds in the distance, and the sun hitting his face finally woke the man up, and he groggily rolled over, as he pulled his eyes open.

Hopper looked across the room at the clock on his wall. Eleven o’clock.

“Damn.” Hopper cursed to himself. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t go back to sleep. Sure, Hawkins was a town where nothing ever happened, but even with that, the Police Chief couldn’t afford to be a lazy ass all day. So, against his own wishes, Hopper forced himself up, and went about his morning. Once he finished, he set out, climbing into his Chevy Blazer, heading towards the Hawkins Police Station.

It was finally Twelve when he pulled into the station. Anybody else might’ve been freaking out, but Hopper wasn’t. It was a Sunday morning, and he was Chief of Police, he had an excuse.

He walked through the doors, and Flo piped up from her desk.

“Nice of you to finally join us, Chief.” The aging woman greeted, no malice or ill-intent behind it.

“Good to see you too, Flo.” He responded, entirely disinterested. “How goes the day?” He asked, moving to grab a cup of long-old coffee. The lukewarm liquid hit his tongue, and he grimaced, but he chugged it down anyway, desperately needing the caffeine.

“Merrill called.” Flo stated.

“Oh, Merrill.” Hopper said, with an aura of sarcasm surrounding him. “Is he still raving about how Eugene stole his ‘Pick a Pumpkin’ idea?”

“No, it’s-“

“Good, Halloween’s over anyway.”

“Chief, he said there was an explosion last night.” Flo stated, causing Hopper to stop.

“An explosion?” Hopper frowned. “Dumb teenagers messing around with fireworks again?”

“No.” Flo shook her head. “He said there was a crater in the ground.”

Hopper sighed, and took a gulp of the coffee. “You know what, Flo? I’ll get right on it… After I get this paperwork filed.” And he left to enter his office.

Flo sighed, knowing that he didn’t have any paperwork in the slightest. She too, went back to her own business, unaware all of them were being watched.

“Looks like we made quite the entrance.” Cortana whispered to the SPARTAN, currently masked by active camo, on the roof of a nearby building. The Mjolnir’s sensors were sensitive to pick up the audio from the other building. “Not ideal, but at least we didn’t land in a more populated area. So, what do you think?”

“This police force seems lazy, or incompetent. The one in charge doesn’t seem to take his post seriously.” The Master Chief assessed. “They won’t be a threat.”

“I didn’t mean the Police force, Chief, I meant the town.” Cortana stated.

“Hm.” He made a noise. “It seems alright, for now. As long as we don’t attract any attention, it’ll work.”

“So, should we start thinking of a cover story?”

“What?” The SPARTAN questioned.

“Come on, Chief, we’ve only been here for a few hours, but even I know we’re not going to be able to bum it in the woods forever. We’re going to have to find some place to stay.”

“We’ll deal with that when we come to it. For now, it’s just recon.” The SPARTAN continued surveying the area. No significantly sized population, or large military or police presence, which made moving around undetected that much easier.

“…Huh.” Cortana suddenly spoke up. “Chief, over there.” She directed him, causing the man to turn his head. “See that?”

The SPARTAN’s view magnified, showing a monolithic concrete building in the distance, so far away that it was almost undetectable, and the SPARTAN wouldn’t have noticed it, unless Cortana pointed it out. He didn’t know what it was, but some ancient, primal part of the SPARTAN screamed danger upon looking at it.

“What is it?” The Chief questioned, pushing down his unease.

“I’m not sure.” Cortana admitted. “I would say it’s a power station, but there’s no wiring going from it to the rest of the grid.”

“Is it an office building?” The SPARTAN assumed.

“I don’t think so, it’s much too remote.” Cortana shot back. “But for some reason, looking at it gives me… this really odd sense of danger.” Never mind the fact that AIs didn’t have senses of danger.

That was one word for it. Something else about the building was off, even from here.

“Chief, it might sound crazy, but…” Cortana began. “I think something in there is calling to us. Do you remember when we were on the unfinished Halo, and the Gravemind reached into your mind to speak to you?” At that point, the Master Chief understood what Cortana was getting at.

“We’ll wait until nightfall, and then check it out.” He didn’t know if it was a good idea to wait that long, but if whatever inside that facility was hostile, it’d minimize the SPARTAN’s chances of being seen. And then, he got back to recon.

So far, it was walking through the town more than anything else, but the SPARTAN was moving slow enough that the camo field wouldn’t be broken by his sudden movements and reveal him. Along the way, Cortana was using the suit’s built-in sensors to map out the area.

As they were climbing along the rooftops, Cortana had the foresight to mark a few locations as potential places of interest. Not anything of military value, but things like grocery stores, and a hardware store.

“You know, power tools haven’t changed much over the past five-hundred years.” The AI began. “We should be able to find something in there to help you get that armor off. You know, in case we need to make an actual supply run.”

The next hours passed as such, with her marking a location and offering reasons on how they could use it to their advantage. She even marked a community pool, at one point (“Swimming’s good exercise, works out practically every muscle in the body.”.)

By the time the two headed down a dirt road, and looped back around to the woods, night had fallen for a while now, the chirping of crickets filling the air.

“Did you know, that there are almost a trillion crickets in the world at a time?” Cortana asked, as the green titan marched through the woods.

The SPARTAN cocked an eyebrow.

“…Just making small talk.” Cortana admitted, and sighed. “It gets tiring, being the one to initiate conversation all the time. You would think-“ She abruptly cut herself off. “Do you hear that?”

The SPARTAN tilted his head to the side, trying to listen. He couldn’t hear anything, but slowly it got louder and louder. “A kid. Sounds like he’s in a panic.”

“It is dark out.” Cortana pointed out.

The SPARTAN looked to the motion tracker in the corner of his vision. The kid was about thirty meters away, and he was moving _fast._ It would even take Kelly aback.

Suddenly, the Chief’s HUD flickered, and his shields glowed, even though nothing had impacted against them.

“Okay, definitely not a ‘run back into the house because it’s dark out and I don’t wanna be taking out the trash’ moment!” Cortana rose her voice. “I’m getting very strong electromagnetic field interference, definitely not natural!”

“How strong?” The SPARTAN asked.

“Strong enough to mess with your armor!” Cortana replied. Then, another blip flickered into existence on the motion tracker, not yellow, like the child’s blip, or red, like an enemy, but grey, for unknown. “Chief, whatever’s causing that field is going after that kid!”

The SPARTAN didn’t need to be told twice, his combat instincts kicking into high gear as he sprinted through the forest. In the distance, he could hear a door slam, and the very faint sound of a dog barking. The yellow blip of the kid charged across the motion tracker again, and came to a stop as the Chief got closer to the edge of the woods.

And then, he saw it.

Through a tiny window on the side of a shed, the 117 could barely see the mop of brown hair on the kid’s head, the small boy aiming a hunting rifle at the door. The light glowed ominously over him, as an inhuman beast rose behind him

The thing’s face split apart like a flower, and 117 was reminded of all the horror stories he had heard describing the Covenant Elites. The resemblance wasn’t superficial, either, save for the head, it was uncanny.

Not slowing down for even a second, 117 dove into the air, and crashed through the wooden wall of the shed, planks splitting apart as the kid screamed in terror. The grey thing buckled under the weight of the SPARTAN, buying the kid precious time to run.

But he still just stood there, frozen in fear.

“Run!” John barked, as the creature attempted to throw him off.

The kid, to his credit, could follow instructions, and soon it was just the creature and the SPARTAN.

The creature managed to free a limb, and sent it charging straight into the SPARTAN. Chief’s shields broke, and the thing scraped its talons against the titanium armor. In retaliation, 117 pulled the pistol from its holster, and -pinning down the other arm with his boot- unloaded a few rounds into the offending arm.

The creature screeched, but somehow found the strength, not only to free its other arm, but to throw the SPARTAN off of it.

All one-thousand pounds, like he was a football being kicked into the air.

What little recharging they had made was lost as the Chief hit the ground on his back, and his shields broke again.

“Chief!” Cortana yelled.

“I’m alright.” He replied, returning to his feet.

“That creature—it’s cells are regenerating faster than you can kill them!” The AI reported. “I don’t think bullets are going to kill it!”

The SPARTAN grunted as he took another slash. “Next best suggestion?”

“Shove a grenade down it’s gullet!” Cortana replied.

John wasted no time taking the grenade off his belt, though it did pain him to some degree having to use one already. He stood firm, waiting for the creature to open up its maw again.

The creature screeched again and charge, and that was when John took his chance. Pulling out the pin, he hurled the grenade with expert precision, the explosive hitting its intended mark right on target. The maw closed, as the creature realized it had just swallowed something that was not its prey, before being kicked back by the Chief, and the grenade went off.

The creature lay still on the ground for a few moments, before stirring and twitching as it began to move.

“Holy hell.” Cortana breathed. “That thing’s still alive!?”

But before the Chief could run over, and stomp it before it escaped, and odd sort of fleshy fissure opened up in the ground, and the creature disappeared through it, the fissure stitching itself back up like it had never existed.

“…I have three words.” The AI began. “What. The. Hell.”

“Any idea what that was?” The SPARTAN asked, examining his armor where the creature had latched onto it. There was some scratches, and slight dents, where the creature tried to crush it.

“I have absolutely no idea.” Cortana stated. “My first thought would be a cousin or subspecies of the Elites, but nothing like that should exist in this time or place!”

“So, looks like we have a mystery on our hands.” The SPARTAN replied.

Cortana paused. “It's a wild hunch, but I think whatever that weird building we saw was, that has something to do with this."

“So, it's back to recon. Where’d the kid go?” John questioned, looked around the almost destroyed back yard.

“Back into that house over there.” Cortana answered. “His vital signs look normal, if a bit shaken up. He should be fine.”

“Then let’s get out of here.” The Chief stated, turning around to move back into the forest.

The SPARTAN crossed the treeline, and soon vanished back into the wilderness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter's a bit longer than the last. I'm going to be honest, one of the main reasons I wanted to write this whole thing so badly was to have a fight between Master Chief and the Demogorgon. I say he'd win in a fight, my sister thinks that the Demogorgon would win.
> 
> Also, eagle-eyed readers might catch that this title has a double-meaning. Not only does it refer to the John-117 and Cortana's arrival on Earth, but the Demogorgon's arrival as well.
> 
> One last thing, and I'm going to say it now. I have no clue how long this thing is going to be, or how long it'll take to get each new chapter out. Quarantine is good for writing, cause it means a lot of downtime in my case, but college exams are coming up, and I only like to update when I feel each chapter is good and ready. The gap between chapters may only be a few days, it may be weeks, I can't say. But regardless, thank you for sticking with me and continuing to read.


	3. The Child

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Chief and Cortana finally recon the Hawkins lab, and four children make a discovery in the forest.

Will Byers wasn’t a kid with confidence in many things. He wasn’t especially smart, or strong, or fast, or rich. In fact, there was only a very few things he had confidence in, them being his mother, his brother, his friends, and the knowledge that monsters weren’t real.

Well, he had confidence in the last one, but then last night happened.

Will didn’t know what made last night, of all nights, different. He’d taken that route over a hundred times to get home, and each time he made it home perfectly safe and sound.

But last night, that… _thing_ was there, waiting for him. It stood upright like a person, but it growled and snarled like an animal. And _it had no face._

When he got home, only to find that his mom and Jonathan weren’t there, he though he was cooked. Running into the shed to grab the rifle was his last course of action. And when the light glowed, and he turned around to see the monster right behind him, he thought that was it.

And then the wall of the shed exploded, and he was s _aved._

The man (Will assumed such because of the deep baritone voice.) was clad entirely in green armor that covered his face, almost like a futuristic knight, and wasted no time in fending of the creature.

Will ran back into his house, and sought one last place of refuge under his bed, the sounds of battle carrying through the thin walls of the house. After a little while, Will thought he could hear a muffled explosion, and the sounds of fighting had stopped.

He still stayed hidden under his bed like that for almost half an hour, before he worked up the nerve to leave his hiding spot. Will, very tentatively, looked out the window, for any sign of the creature, or his mysterious savior.

The shed had almost been torn apart, a giant hole in the side that the Stranger had crashed through. There was no sign of the creature, and Will finally allowed himself to release the breath he’d been holding.

He didn’t sleep that night, fear of the creature returning for him keeping the child up.

When day finally broke, Will could hear his mother and Jonathan going about their morning routine, and feeling like the walking dead, he forced himself to get up, and begin getting dressed.

“Okay, I’m heading out!” He could hear his mother call, she said goodbye to her oldest, before moving quickly down the hallway. “Will, I’m-“ She abruptly stopped, as she took in Will’s state.

His eyes were red and puffy, and the grey bags underneath were painfully obvious.

“Will, honey, are you alright?” Joyce asked, instantly going into mothering mode.

“No, I’m-I’m fine.” And Will grimaced, both at the lie, and how hoarse he sounded from the screaming.

She frowned back at him, and gently placed her hand on his forehead. “You feel warm.”

Will wasn’t sure if it was from hiding underneath his covers all night, or the constant pounding of his heart that hadn’t let up since them.

In that moment, he began to shake, as the memory of last night returned in full force. Will debated with himself on telling his mom or staying silent.

While he did that, Joyce picked up on the shaking. “And now you’re shivering. Okay, back in bed.”

“Mom?” Will questioned.

“You haven’t missed a single day of school so far,” She began, “I think you can have a little leeway.” She smiled and with that, Will began to thank whatever god was listening, as he moved back into his room. “It’s too late for me to call in, are you going to be okay on your own?”

Will simply nodded, and his mother pressed a kiss to his forehead.

“Okay, love you.” She smiled.

“Love you too.” The child returned.

Joyce nodded, and left the room, in a hurry to get back on schedule. “Jonathan, can you call the school and tell them Will’s running a fever.”

“Got it!” The elder son returned.

And Will could hear the door slam as his mother headed off to work.

It was not thirty minutes later before Jonathan, now ready for the day as well, peeked his head into Will’s room, and said his goodbyes as well.

Will could hear the door slam behind Jonathan as well, as the engine in his car turned over, and he pulled away.

Will was alone, at last.

He threw the covers off, and began pacing around nervously.

What was the thing from last night?

Where did it come from?

Would it be back?

And who, or what, had saved him?

With that last question, Will began to feel a new resolve forming within him. It was time for an investigation.

* * *

The Hawkins National Laboratory was a lone building, surrounded by a forest that extended out to the rest of Hawkins.

At the edge of the treeline, concealed by active camouflage, the Master Chief was crouched down, looking through his pistol’s scope.

After the alien creature vanished last night, the two made their approach toward the building, and began surveying the area.

There was a sizable military presence near the building. Odd for a place belonging to the Department of Energy, the SPARTAN thought.

“Chief,” Cortana pointed out as they were doing reconnaissance, “Look at the compass on your HUD. Haven’t you noticed that, no matter what direction we’re facing, it’s always pointing at that lab?”

“Is it broken?” The SPARTAN questioned, and Cortana let out a little snort.

“I’ve calibrated it a dozen times by now.” The AI reported. “It’s not on our end. Something in that building is generating a magnetic field large enough to interfere with your compass, even from as far away as here.”

“Any ideas?” He questioned, as he saw a convoy of cars begin pulling up to the building.

“Well, that thing we saw last night was able of generating an electromagnetic field strong enough to interfere with your suit. Whatever’s in there is probably similar.” Cortana conjectured.

“But you don’t know for sure.” The Chief stated.

“No.” Cortana sighed, admitting defeat. “Your suit’s sensors are good, but not enough for me to make an accurate reading from all the way out here. But in any case, something about this place isn’t adding up.”

The Chief stayed silent, in silent agreement, as they watched the cars slow to a stop, and the occupants got out.

“Chief, look.” She highlighted a lone, grey-haired man in a suit, standing near the entrance to the building. “I’m willing to bet he’s the one in charge here.”

“Or a secretary.” The Chief pointed out.

“It’s the 1980s, John. If you’ve got a man meeting guests at the front door, it’s either a hotel, or he’s the head honcho.” Cortana replied.

Oh, that’s right, it was a different time. Literally.

“Then let’s go.” He said, putting the pistol back in its place, as he made a brisk walk towards the lab, still not fast enough to interfere with the active camo.

“Chief, I don’t need to tell you that this is crazy, do I?” Cortana rhetorically asked. Just walking right through the front door of a significant military installation? Sure, he had active camo, but still.

“I thought you liked crazy?” The SPARTAN snarked back.

“Oh, ha ha.” She responded, completely monotonously.

As the two got closer, they could hear the new arrivals talking to the man.

“Doctor Brenner.” One approached, as he shook the doctor’s hand.

With that simple introduction, he and the others set off into the lab, entirely unaware that they were being followed.

* * *

Will, taking a few reluctant steps forward, edged out into the back yard, and finally got a proper look at the destruction that took place last night. Splinters of wood were strewn about the place, and there was a scar in the ground where the Stranger had landed after being thrown out of the shed.

It was a minor miracle that no one had said anything about it.

Will bent down and picked up a chunk of wood not far from the shed. It was old wood, sure, but as solid as it had ever been.

And the man in the green armor dove through it like it wasn’t even there.

Will gulped, suddenly glad that the man wasn’t aiming for him.

Will continued pacing around, taking in the state of the place, when something on the ground caught his eye.

It was a footprint. It was from the man, shaped unlike any boot Will had seen before, all angular and with a pattern that looked more like slip-resistant metal than anything else.

And there was a trail of them leading back into the forest.

Will ran back into the house, and began rummaging around in his room, looking for his supercom.

He pulled up the antenna, and tuned the channel, hoping that one of his friends had brought theirs along to school.

It was a dumb move, if it went off in class the teachers would have to confiscate it, but this couldn’t wait.

Will held down the button, and began speaking. “Hello, can anyone hear me? This is Will, over.” And he released it. He waited a moment, and repeated. “Hello, this is Will, o-“

 _“Will, what the hell, man!?”_ Dustin voice crackled out of the speaker, sending Will recoiling. _“I was in the middle of class!”_

“Sorry!” Will responded. “You didn’t get in trouble, did you?”

 _“No,”_ Dustin replied, _“Thank Christ, we were with Mr. Clarke. What’s wrong?”_

Will took in a sharp breath, and swallowed. “Something happened last night.”

_“What?”_

“I was… chased.”

_“Oh, shit! It was Troy and James, wasn’t it!?”_

“No.” Will shook his head, even though he knew Dustin couldn’t see. “It was someone… some _thing_ else.”

“ _Some_ thing? _”_ Dustin repeated. _“What, like a bear!? Are you alright, dude!?”_

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Will replied. “But the other guy… Listen, I need you, Mike, and Lucas to come by after school.”

_“For what?”_

“I’m gonna track him.”

_“Track him!? Track a bear!? Are you nuts, man!?”_

“No!” Will shouted back. “And we’re not tracking a bear, we’re tracking a… guy who chased it off.”

_“Okay, cool and all, but why?”_

“I… I just want to… I guess I just want to say thanks.” Which was technically the truth. Will had been hiding for so long, he didn’t get to say thanks to the Man disappeared.

Dustin sighed on his end. _“Okay, I’ll tell Mike and Lucas, and we’ll head over first thing after school.”_

Will smiled. “Thanks.”

 _“Yeah. Dustin, out.”_ And the line went dead.

* * *

“This way, gentlemen.” One of the scientists said, as they turned a corner.

The situation wasn’t ideal for the SPARTAN. Being in such close quarters meant that the slightest bump could give him away.

The Chief wasn’t fazed, he’d been trained to move undetected in such close spaces _without_ the benefit of active camouflage. He moved silently, undetected behind his targets.

Cortana’s hunch was right about Brenner being the one in charge, and the Chief figured that following him would give the most accurate information as to what was going on, so the SPARTAN stuck close to him as they moved through the lab.

“The entire east wing will be evacuated within the hour.” The scientist next to Brenner reported, as the SPARTAN kept up bobbing and weaving through the crowds. We’ve sealed off this area following quarantine protocol.” The man finished.

There was a plastic sheet stretched across the wall, a biohazard symbol emblazoned on it. One of the soldiers guarding the entry way unzipped the sheet, and stood at attention, allowing the group through.

The Chief passed through just in time, before the soldiers zipped it back up.

The group ahead ducked into a locker room, and came back out fifteen minutes later, wearing hazmat suits, and toting submachine guns. The group moved forward down a hallway, into a large elevator. Everyone made it inside, and Brenner hit the button.

“Look at them.” Cortana whispered through the interface, almost with a tone of awe. “That’s a Heckler & Koch MP5K, that gun ended production in 2044.”

“Didn’t take you for a gun nut.” The SPARTAN thought back.

“What can I say? You’ve rubbed off on me.”

The elevator settled with a thud, and the large steel doors opened, revealing another hallway.

This one, unlike the brightly lit hallways of before, was dimly lit, the only sources of light being the group’s flashlights. The place was cold, and odd white objects floated in the air.

“Chief those look like…” Cortana began, with audible unease and fear.

“Flood spores.” The SPARTAN, still hidden from the rest of the group, reached out and plucked one.

“It’s not quite the same…” Cortana reported. “But it’s close enough. I’m going to run a full analysis with what I can, try to stick with them.”

The group rounded a corner, and approached a door that wouldn’t look out of place on a submarine. As they got closer, the SPARTAN noticed fleshy growths rooted on the walls. It reminded him of High Charity, the Covenant’s holy city, as it was beginning to be converted into a Flood Hive. The group stepped through the entryway, and the Chief’s eyes widened as he saw it.

There was a giant fissure on the largest wall in the room, red and pulsating like a wound. The same fleshy growths that dotted the hallways were propagating out from it, and slimy tendrils of an unknown material sprung out from it like a web.

It pulsed and growled as the group ran their flashlights over it.

“Cortana, what is that?” The SPARTAN asked, the external speakers of his helmet off to prevent the others from hearing.

“I don’t know.” The AI admitted. “But whatever it is, it’s the source of the magnetic field that was interfering with the compass. And it seems to be what’s making all of these spored.”

“This is where it came from?” A man at the front asked.

“Yes.” Brenner responded.

“And the girl?”

“She can’t have gone far.”

“Girl?” The SPARTAN repeated, as the group turned to begin collecting samples from the fissure.

“Hmm… They said something came from it.” Cortana reflected. “It’s not crazy to assume that something else did, too.”

“Then we need to find her.” The SPARTAN stated. “If these spores are anything like the Flood, she could be infected.”

“Right with you on that.” Cortana agreed. “Just let me get a few scans.”

The scans themselves only took a few minutes, thanks to 26th century technology. From there, it became a game of waiting for the other group.

That took much longer.

A few hours had passed, but finally the group got ready to leave, the SPARTAN silently stalking them from behind him. As soon as they made it past the plastic screen, the Chief broke off his pursuit, and quietly slipped out of the building undetected.

* * *

“Holy shit.” Dustin breathed, looking at the giant hole in Will’s shed. “A _bear_ did that!?”

“No way.” Lucas rejected. “It’d have to be built like a linebacker and running at fifty miles per hour to break through that.”

Will didn’t tell them how close to the truth Lucas was.

“Well, Will says is happened.” Mike was quick to defend his friend. “And friends don’t lie, remember.”

Lucas groaned. “Yeah, okay. Let’s just get this over with.”

“Will, you said the guy left tracks?” Mike questioned.

Will nodded and led them over to the footsteps leading back into the woods.

“Shit, dude, what was the other guy wearing, a spacesuit?” Dustin asked.

Now that Will thought about it, the man did look kind of like something out of Star Wars.

“Come on, let’s follow them.” Mike took charge, heading forth.

“Hold on, are you all crazy!?” Lucas stopped them. “Will got attacked by a bear last night, and now we’re heading back into the woods to try and find it!?”

Dustin and Mike looked at each other for a moment, and back to Lucas. “Yeah, so?” Mike questioned.

“So!?” Lucas raised his voice. “What if another bear attacks!? We could all get hurt… or killed!”

“He does have a point, dude.” Dustin agreed

Mike stayed silent for a moment, as he seemed to be puzzling something over. “Remember last night, when Will cast fireball?”

“Yeah, so?” Lucas questioned.

“He could’ve cast protection… but he didn’t. He put himself at risk for the rest of us.” Mike finished, and Lucas rolled his eyes and sighed.

“This is a bit different than that… but I get it.” Lucas conceded. “Fine, let’s go. Before I change my mind.”

And so, the four young boys charged forth into the woods, following the trail left behind by Will’s mysterious savior.

* * *

The SPARTAN disengaged his active camouflage once he made it back into the woods, allowing it to recharge as he made his way through the trees.

He felt an odd sort of comfort being in this forest. It reminded him of the training exercises back on Reach, before the Covenant had attacked. Before he lost his brothers and sisters. But the spores he and Cortana found in the lab stuck in his mind, and the Chief found himself contemplating about the situation back home.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Cortana spoke up, as leaves and twigs cracked underneath the SPARTAN’s footsteps.

“I’ve been thinking.” The Chief began.

“Oh no, someone alert the media.”

“What are things like back home?” John wondered. “Did Halo really work, or…”

“Or is the Flood chowing down on the galaxy?” Cortana finished for him. She remained silent for a moment but spoke up. “Do you know why I chose you?”

“Doctor Halsey paired you with me.” The SPARTAN recalled.

“That’s a lie, and you know it.” Cortana shot back. “She let me pick. Any SPARTAN I wanted, that’s who I would be paired with. All of you were fast, and strong, and brave… But you had something they didn’t. Do you know what it was?” The SPARTAN shook his head. “Luck.”

“So that’s why you think the plan worked. Because I’m lucky.” The SPARTAN chuckled.

“Your words, not mine.”

The two continued, even as the sun set and night fell. The SPARTAN continued deep into the woods, looking for his makeshift shelter. Soon, the sky began to flash and rumble as rain moved in.

The raindrops popped and crackled as they hit his shields, the energy field serving to keep his armor dry as he waded through the increasingly muddy ground.

“Chief, get down!” Cortana suddenly ordered, and the SPARTAN, trusting her judgement, followed.

“What is it?”

“I’m picking up life-signs in the next area. Four human males, one female. The female is separate from the others.” The AI reported.

“Any clues to who they are?”

“Well, here’s the kicker, one of them’s that kid you saved last night.” Cortana answered.

“They’re looking for me.” The Chief came to the obvious conclusion.

“D’aww, looks like you have a little fanclub.” Cortana baby-talked.

“Cortana…”

“Right, serious mode, sorry.”

The Chief activated his camouflage, and slowly approached, trying not to scare them off. Hopefully, he could make it past them and back to his shelter without being seen.

As he got closer, he could hear the children speaking.

“Dude, it’s getting late, we should go home!” The boy in the hat yelled over the rain.

“We can’t go now, we still haven’t found anything!” The African-American one returned.

Then, as if on cue, something rustled in the trees, making everyone (the SPARTAN included) freeze.

“Did you guys hear that?” The one in the sweater vest questioned.

At first, the Chief thought the rustling was him, but then, it occurred again.

“There it is again!” The boys turned around, and their flashlights almost ran over the Chief, before the rustling came from behind them, and they whipped back around.

The flashlights landed on the source, and the Chief’s eyes widened.

She was wearing a yellow shirt three sizes too big, and her eyes blinked constantly against the assault of the light and rain.

He recognized her, that much he knew. It was a subconscious recognition, a little inkling in the back of his mind, but he knew her somehow, and he knew her name.

“Eleven...” He stated, helmet speakers still turned off, not sure where the word came from.

Her eyes snapped over to him, exactly where he was hiding with his camo engaged. Her eyes spoke of recognition, and her mouth parted.

“John.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heh, I'm evil for ending it like that.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Party and their newest discoveries return to Mike's basement. Plans are made.

The children, save for Eleven, had understandably freaked out once the SPARTAN dropped his camouflage, and finding out that they had been followed. To their credit, they didn’t scatter, in fact, quite the opposite.

Dustin, upon getting over the initial shock, thought it was the coolest thing ever. And Will stared at the seven-foot-tall man with awe, now that he was finally able to get a good look.

And the others started bombarding him with questions.

Cortana suggested to him that they have the conversation out of the rain, where a little girl who was entirely unprotected would be less likely to catch an illness. The SPARTAN relayed that message to the children and he, in what was certain he would look back on as a severe violation of common sense, let them lead.

According to them, Mike’s basement was likely the safest place. Mike’s mom only went down there once in a blue moon.

So that’s where they were now, Eleven wrapped in Mike’s jacket, being toted by the Chief. The moment the little girl clung onto the Chief’s leg, Cortana burst into laughter, and every attempt to remove the child had met with failure. So, begrudgingly, he picked her up, and she allowed herself to be carried back. As she sat, patiently in his grip, the memories of his dream in cryo came flooding back to him. He wasn’t sure if she was speeding the process along somehow, or if it was a natural occurrence. But in all, things had gotten mostly calm since they got back.

Until the kids started bombarding them with questions.

“Who are you?” Inquired Will.

“Where did you come from?” Asked Mike.

“Are you from space?” Dustin asked.

“What’s wrong with her hair?” That was Lucas.

Dustin sharply inhaled like the world began to make sense. “Do you have cancer!?”

These kids were starting to grate on him. “Enough!” He rumbled, not enough to be outwardly mean, but still enough to cause the children to jump. The SPARTAN sighed, and shook his head. The thunder cracked, and Eleven tensed further into his grip.

Mike looked sheepish on their behalf. “Sorry.”

The SPARTAN would’ve rubbed his face, had his helmet not been blocking him. “It’s fine. Cortana?”

The children frowned. “Who?” Dustin asked.

“I’ve done a sweep of the room, there’s no one listening.”

“Good.” The SPARTAN nodded. “First; names.”

“Oh, yeah, I’m Mike.” He took charge, the de facto leader of the group, apparently. “This is Will,” He jerked a thumb at bowl-cut, “Lucas,” The African-American, “and Dustin.” He ended on the one in the hat. “You?”

“John.” Eleven spoke up from his side. He was kind of starting to regret telling her his name, if she was just going to be giving it out like that.

Dustin frowned. “Her name is _John_?”

“No, stupid, John’s his name.” Lucas berated, pointing to the SPARTAN.

The SPARTAN frowned on the inside of his helmet. “To you four, it’s either ‘Master Chief’ or just ‘Chief.’”

Lucas cocked an eyebrow. “You want us to call you by rank? Seriously?”

“How do you know it’s a rank?” Will asked.

Lucas turned to the boy. “Dad was in the Marines.”

Will let out a silent ‘oh.’

“So, what about you?” Mike looked to Eleven.

Eleven turned her forearm so it was visible to the rest of theme.

Will’s eyes widened. “Is that real?”

Eleven nodded.

“So… your name is Eleven?” Mike questioned, and she nodded again. “Well… It’s a bit weird to call people after a number, so… How about El?”

Eleven tilted her head.

“It’s a nickname.” The SPARTAN provided.

“Nick-name?” She sounded out.

“Something people call you when they don’t use your real name.” The Chief provided. “Mine was ‘Demon.’”

“De-man?”

“Mon.” He corrected, “Long story.”

“El…” She repeated. And then she nodded.

“Great, so, El-“

“Hold on a second, I’m feeling left out.” Cortana’s voice rang out from the armor, severely confusing all in the room. “Yank me, Chief.”

The SPARTAN sighed, and maneuvered his free hand to the back of his helmet. He grabbed onto Cortana’s chip, and pulled it out, setting her down on the nearby coffee table. Cortana’s avatar was projected above the chip with a cocky smile and a hand on her hip.

“Dude, it’s like a pixie!” Dustin excitedly approached.

Cortana frowned, she wasn’t expecting that.

“Pixies aren’t real.” Lucas pointed out.

“Science hasn’t _disproven_ the existence of pixies.” Dustin defended. “If they can shift through dimensions, it would explain the lack of evidence for them.”

“I’m not a pixie.” Cortana shook her head. “I’m an AI.”

“Cortana…” The SPARTAN stepped forward, a warning tone in his voice.

“Chief,” The AI returned, “We’re going to be stuck here for the foreseeable future. We need allies… even if they’re children.”

“We’re preteens.” Mike corrected.

“Same difference.”

Will stepped forward. “What do you mean you’re stuck.”

The SPARTAN sighed. “What we say does not leave this room, clear?”

“We’re not snitches-“ Dustin began.

“Clear?” The SPARTAN repeated.

“Yes sir.”

The SPARTAN nodded, and Cortana took control of the conversation.

“The Chief and I are from the year 2552.” Cortana began, and even Eleven, who likely didn’t know what year it was anyhow, looked amazed.

“No way…” The kids breathed in unison.

“What’s it like?” Mike inquired.

“Well, humanity has mostly united under one banner.” Cortana answered, almost like a schoolteacher. “By our time, humanity has spread out to explore the galaxy. If fact, where we came from, there were over 800 colonies under the authority of the UEG alone.” Deliberately omitting the Covenant from the picture.

“That’s so cool!” Dustin was on the verge of jumping up and down. “Are there aliens too!?”

Cortana paused for a moment. “There are. Some are… nice.” She thought of the Huragok, the floating organic supercomputers that wouldn’t harm a fly. “Others… Not so much.”

“This is crazy!” Lucas threw his hands up. “You can’t actually believe that he’s from the _future!?”_

“Dude, he decloaked in the woods like a Romulan Warbird, and now we’re talking with a hologram. Suspension of disbelief doesn’t apply here.” Dustin shot back.

“If you’re from the future…” Will began, “How did you end up here?”

“Ah…” Cortana seemed to consider her next words. “There was this portal we were traveling through. As we passed through it though, it closed on itself, and sheared our starship in half. The aft section, the one we were in, ended up here. The other one… I have no clue.”

“Can’t you fix it and go back?” Mike inquired.

“Many of the engineering techniques used to make the ship won’t be invented for another two-hundred years.” Cortana stated. “And even if we could’ve fixed the ship, time travel via slipspace isn’t an exact science.”

“What-space?” Lucas questioned.

“It’s how we travel faster than light.”

“So, what are you going to do?” Dustin asked, like he hadn’t just discovered time travel and faster-than-light travel was possible in the same night.

“I have survivability training.” The Chief answered. “Cortana and I were going to hide out in the woods. Stay as far out of sight as possible.”

“ _But_...” Cortana interjected from her place on the table. “26th century survival training, no matter how good, isn’t going to be the answer for everything. He’s going to need to get out of that suit eventually.”

“ _Cortana_ …”

“Come on, Chief, you and I both know that the suit’s going to need some repairs eventually.”

“They’re _children_.”

“So were you, at one point.” Cortana said. She tilted her head, and her gaze softened, surprising everyone, except for the Chief, at how gentle the AI could be. “Look, we were going to get caught at some point, better sooner rather than later, right?”

“Yeah, we can help!” Mike spoke once more on their behalf.

“Chief, surviving out in the woods for a few days is do-able, but you’re a 26th century guy. No matter how much survival training you have, you’re not built to bum it in the wilderness. And think about El.”

Eleven tilted her head.

“What about her?” The SPARTAN questioned.

“She’s obviously attached to you already. Why? Who cares.” She shrugged. “But something tells me she’s not going to want to let you out of her sight.”

“Good point.” The SPARTAN conceded.

“So, since he’s not going to bite, I will.” Cortana turned to the children. “We need a place to hole up.”

The four boys all looked at each other.

“Nuh-uh.” Dustin spoke up first, “My mom is way too nosy.”

“Yeah, and Erica can’t keep a secret to save her life.”

They looked at Will. “…He destroyed the shed in the back yard.”

“Sorry.” The SPARTAN apologized.

“It’s fine. Besides, we don’t make enough to keep another mouth fed.”

Cortana shook her head. “We don’t need you guys to keep us fed. Chief can take care of that himself. We just need something away from prying eyes, just for long enough to get him out of that suit so he doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb.”

“Well… I guess you guys can stay down here.” Mike rubbed the back of his neck. “If it’s just for a few days…”

“Two, at the most.” Cortana informed.

“Okay. That can work.” Mike said. “Mom doesn’t come down here often, and there are plenty of places to hide.”

“Great.” The Chief turned to the child clinging to his shoulder. “I’m going to let you down, now. Okay?”

The girl nodded, and the SPARTAN bent down, gently letting the girl go.

Mike immediately ran over to a laundry basket nearby, and grabbed a sweater and sweatpants. “Here. Staying in wet clothes is an easy way of getting a cold.”

Eleven took the clothes and held the soft material to her face. She kept like that for a moment, before abruptly grabbing onto the hem of her shirt.

“Woah!” Everyone shouted, causing Eleven to jump.

Okay, so she didn’t have a sense of modesty. Good to know, for future reference.

The SPARTAN turned to Mike calmly. “Is there a restroom down here?”

Mike nodded and jerked his head in the direction of the restroom on the edge of the basement.

John gently guided the girl over, and moved to shut the door, but the girl grabbed onto the edge, stopping the SPARTAN in his tracks.

“No.”

John sighed and let go, leaving the door cracked, he turned around, and waited. A minute or two passed, while Dustin, Lucas, and Will said their goodbyes, and headed up the stairs.

A few moments later, Eleven came back out, properly dressed this time.

As the Chief walked back over, and Mike began setting up a blanket fort for El to sleep in, the SPARTAN took note of Cortana panned over to look at him, with a sly grin on her face.

The SPARTAN walked over and picked Cortana’s chip up off of the coffee table, inserting it back into his suit.

“Well, um, here it is.” Mike awkwardly introduced El to the blanket fort, and the girl crawled underneath. “Here’s some pillows, and some comic books in case you get bored. I’d stay down here, but I have to get to bed.”

El simply nodded her understanding.

“Okay, um, so… Goodnight.”

“Good night.” She returned, and Mike took off back up the stairs. She curled up on her side, and began to try and fall asleep, as thunderclaps rumbled the house.

With Mike gone, the Chief experimentally sat down on a couch in the basement. The wood creaked and groaned as he put his weight on it, but held.

“Such a sweet kid.” Cortana said to the Chief. “Not many people I can think of who’d put up with a half-ton supersoldier from the future, his sexy AI sidekick, and a random girl they found in the woods.”

“Right.” The Chief noncommittally agreed. “Why did you push so hard for me to ask them for a place to stay? You know I could make it out in the wilderness.”

“…No reason.” Cortana replied. “It’s just... You need friends. Besides me, I mean. Despite what everyone says, SPARTANS need human interaction too.”

The two went quiet for some time.

“John?” El spoke up from across the room.

“Yes?” He turned to look at the girl.

“Scared.”

“You’re scared?” The SPARTAN’s tone was gentle as he got up and approached. “Of what?”

“Thunder.”

Well, she was a kid of few words, but she used each one to get her point across.

“Well, what do you want me to do?”

She scooted out of the way and patted the empty space next to her.

He huffed. “I don’t think I can quite fit in there.”

She patted the ground again.

The SPARTAN sighed and awkwardly crawled in. He maneuvered to sit down and looked at El. “There. Better?”

She nodded. “Better.” And allowed herself to finally drift into slumber.

The Chief silently debated on leaving his position after the girl finally fell asleep, but looking down at her, his mind proposed a dozen questions to him.

How deprived of human interaction had she been in order to think that undressing in front of a group of total strangers was appropriate? Why didn’t she know simple words like nickname or demon? How come she was she clinging on to him, a virtually faceless, stoic cyborg of all people?

And why could she read minds?

He crossed his arms and sat back, staying at his post.

He’d have a proper talk with her once they both woke up.


	5. The Basement Dwellers

When the SPARTAN awoke the next morning, El was already awake before him. Checking the clock on his HUD, he saw that it was already past 0700, and a quick glance at a nearby window confirmed it as light seeped in from outside.

“Good morning, sleeping beauty.” Cortana greeted. “Sleep well?”

The SPARTAN stood up and worked the crick out of his neck. He’d been trained to sleep anywhere, when he required sleep, no matter how uncomfortable. Didn’t stop the aches from being a nuisance, however.

A loud knock happened upstairs, briefly making the SPARTAN tense up.

“Easy.” Cortana talked the Chief down. “It’s just Mike. He’s having an argument with his sister.”

Indeed, after Cortana pointed it out, he could hear the family upstairs as they ate.

He walked back over again to Eleven and sat down in front of her. The girl had procured a small walkie-talkie from somewhere, and was flipping through the channels, listening to the static.

Mike came down the steps a few moments later, and looked upon the two, a slight smile on his face. “Hey, you found my supercom!”

El looked up, confused by the new word.

“I talk to my friends with it.” Mike continued. “Mostly just Lucas, though. The range is pretty weak. Oh!” He suddenly remembered something. “I brought something for you to eat. It isn’t much, mom only makes enough breakfast to just feed the five of us, so there usually isn’t any leftovers. I guess you two could split it, though.” He pulled out a single, relatively tiny waffle, and handed it to the Chief.

“Don’t worry about it.” Cortana said to Mike. “He’s got a few MREs tucked away in that armor of his.”

The SPARTAN, not bothering to break the waffle in half, immediately handed it over to Eleven. The girl looked at the waffle curiously. John was fairly certain she understood the concept of food (she had to have eaten _something_ in her life), but it looked like the waffle was alien to her.

“It’s a snack.” John stated, causing El to look at him.

“Snack?”

“Something you eat in between meals.”

El slowly nodded and took a bite. She slowly chewed it, as the SPARTAN and Mike continued.

“So… what’s the plan?” Mike approached.

“Don’t have one.” Cortana replied. “For now, it’s just laying low until we can get that armor off. After that, then we can worry about finding a long-term place to stay.”

“Right.” Mike nodded. “That’s a good idea.”

“Mike, come on!” His mother called from upstairs. “We’re going to be late.”

“Coming!” He yelled back. “Okay, I have to go to school.” He turned back to them. “I’ll be gone for a few hours, but the house will probably be empty. Mom has errands, dad has work, and Nancy has school, so there shouldn’t be anyone here. If you need something… I guess you can call with that.” He gestured to the radio. “Dustin usually brings his with him.”

“Thanks.” The SPARTAN nodded.

Mike returned it, and took off back up the stairs. After Mike vanished, the Chief, Cortana, and Eleven all sat in silence.

The SPARTAN’s stomach abruptly rumbled, and he sighed. He took Cortana’s chip out of his helmet and set her down next to Eleven.

Cortana turned to the girl. “Take a good look, kid. You’re about to see something few others have.”

The SPARTAN shook his head at Cortana’s theatrics. He pressed a small button on the underside of his helmet, and the seal hissed as it released.

Eleven’s eyes widened curiously as John grabbed onto his helmet, pulled it off, and set it on the ground next to him.

John opened one of the compartments on his armor’s belt, and pulled out an MRE, getting the self-heating reaction going as his hunger hit him full force. Once it was done, he pulled the plastic fork out of its wrapper, and began eating.

He could feel Eleven’s gaze on him, and he looked up, right into her curious eyes.

John raised an eyebrow. “What? Did you think I didn’t have a face?” He asked, all in good humor.

Eleven took it literally, nodding ever so slightly.

“Oh.”

Cortana laughed. “Way to stick your foot in your mouth, Chief.”

“So,” John began, “Last night, when we found you in the woods and the rain… Why were you out there?”

El looked uncomfortable. “Bad men.”

John frowned, thinking back to their conversation in the void. “You were running from your handlers?”

The girl nodded.

“Why were you running?”

“Scared.” She admitted.

“You were scared? Of your handlers?”

El looked like she was about to nod, but then shook her head in the negative.

“Then what were you scared of?” John question.

El got to her feet and walked over to the small table where a game board was placed. She made sure John was looking at her as she picked up one of the miniatures. It was a monster of some sort, a two headed biped with tentacles instead of arms.

“Is that supposed to be symbolic?” John questioned, not understanding the intent behind Eleven’s action.

“Monster.” El stated, pointing to the gash in his armor that had been left by the alien creature the other night.

“Chief… I think it’s supposed to be the creature that attacked Will.” Cortana theorized.

“Are you sure?”

“It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

John turned to Eleven. “That’s what you were running from? The monster that attacked Will?”

Eleven nodded.

“Well, it’s gone now. I made sure of that.”

Eleven shook her head. “Not gone. Someplace else.”

Cortana frowned from her place. “Then where is it?”

Eleven flipped the board face-down and placed the figure down on it.

“I don’t understand.” The man admitted.

“Here.” She pointed at the floor. “But over there.”

Cortana gasped, as she realized what Eleven was getting at. “Chief, that growth we saw in the lab? It’s a portal of some kind!”

“A portal?” John repeated, skepticism bleeding into his tone.

“Gate.” Eleven stated. “Feel it.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t realize it earlier!” Cortana berated herself. “The EM signatures, the non-terrestrial biology, that hole in the ground that vanished after it went through… That creature must have come from some sort of alternate reality!”

“Upside-down.” Eleven coined.

The man turned to Cortana. “That’s a leap, even for us.”

“Chief, please. I’m not delusional.” Cortana sassed back, her hands on her hips. “Besides, we’ve blown up ancient ringworlds, fought eldritch horrors from the dawn of time, and freaking _time traveled._ There’s not a lot out of the realm of possibility now.”

“Fine. So, what do we do?”

“What do mean? It’s interdimensional, sure, but it’s a wild animal. We handle it by not handling it.”

“Cortana, it attacked Will without being provoked the other night.” John pointed out. “We can’t assume that it won’t go after another civilian again.”

Cortana thought for a moment and sighed. “You’re right. Why do you always have to be the big damn hero?”

“It’s what I do best.”

“Big damn hero?” El repeated, and Cortana let out a loud bark of laughter.

“A hero is…” The man trailed off. “Well, that’s not important right now. Don’t ever repeat what Cortana says, she’s a bad influence.”

“Oh, speaking from experience, are we?”

“Maybe.” John picked his helmet up off the floor, along with Cortana’s chip. He put his helmet back on, the pressure seal hissing as it engaged, and put Cortana’s chip back into his helmet.

Eleven stepped forward. “I go with you.”

The SPARTAN looked down at her and shook his head. “You can’t. This is an alien that’s proven it doesn’t have any issues hurting humans. And recon is no place for a child.”

“Re-con?”

“Reconnaissance.” The SPARTAN sounded out. “It means to look at a place and see what’s happening there.”

“I can help.” Eleven stood firm. “Feel gates before they open.”

“She does have a point there, Chief.” Cortana conceded. “The only reason we realized something was up was because of the electromagnetic field interference, and by then it was too late. She could be helpful.“

“She’s a child.”

“A child with freaky psychic powers. Besides, bringing her along would allow you to keep a better eye on her.”

The SPARTAN considered it. “Fine. You can come along. But you have to follow _every_ instruction I give you. Okay?”

Eleven nodded.

“Then let’s go.” Turning toward the door.

“Chief, wait. You have active camo, but she has nothing. And if she was able to make it to Hawkins on foot…”

“Her handlers won’t be far behind.” The Chief thought about it for a moment. “Okay, we’ll need to do some prep-work. Pull up a map of all the general stores in the area.” He crouched to meet Eleven’s eyes. “Okay, I’m going to have to leave you here for a little while-“

“No!” She was quick to shout, stepping closer.

“It shouldn’t be an hour or two, at most.” The SPARTAN informed. “I promise.”

“Promise?” She tilted her head.

“Yeah. It means something that I won’t go back on.” He rumbled. “How about this; Cortana, do you feel comfortable staying behind?”

“If it means we can get this done without dealing with a psychic temper tantrum, it’s fine by me.”

“Alright.” He reached back to the back of his head and pulled the chip back out. “Here.” He tried not to think about how many regulations he was breaking as he held out Cortana.

Eleven, very carefully, reached out as the chip was dropped in her hand. She gingerly ran the chip around in her fingers. “Small.”

“Take good care of her while I’m gone.” He left the statement hanging in the air as to who he was referring to. “Lock it after I leave.” The SPARTAN stepped over to the basement door and engaged his active camouflage. To Eleven, it looked like he just faded away, though she could still feel him right in front of her. The basement door appeared to open by itself, and closed shortly after.

El waited a moment and reached up for the lock. She rotated the deadbolt until it clicked, and El went back into the blanket fort, clutching Cortana’s chip like it was the most precious thing in the world.

* * *

Melvald’s General Store didn’t see much business during weekdays. Despite that, the reason Joyce typically stayed during her shifts for so long wasn’t because the place got busy, but because her family desperately needed the money.

So there Joyce was, stocking shelves like she had countless times before, glancing at the clock every once in a while to see how close she was to her break.

She could hear the bell on the front door ding, and she turned to greet whoever it was who came in, but when her eyes landed on the door, the spot came up empty. Nobody coming in and nobody going out.

She didn’t pay it any mind, thinking it was just somebody in a rush.

A few more minutes passed, before a shattering at the end of the aisle startled Joyce.

She tensed up briefly and looked to the source. There was a bottle of face paint broken on the floor, but no sign of the person that knocked it down.

Joyce sighed, and went to go get something to go clean it up.

However, as Joyce came back out, she could see the door spontaneously swing open and back closed, frozen as the door moved against the wind by itself.

And as she found herself focusing on that, Joyce never noticed that a few items had gone missing.


	6. Recon Duty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Master Chief and Eleven journey back to the Byers household in order to learn more about the creature that attacked Will. Chief puts together more about what Eleven can do, and Eleven learns more about what kind of man the Chief is.

“So… Looks like I have babysitting duty.” Cortana rambled. “And to top it all off, you have some form of ESP. I gotta tell you, that was the last thing I was expecting my weekend to be like. So, while John is gone, what do you want to do?”

Eleven shrugged.

Cortana sighed, and the head of her avatar dipped down. “I didn’t think this through very well. After he gets back, he and I are going to have a long talk about stopping my impulsive decisions.”

Eleven tilted her head and looked down at Cortana with an almost melancholy expression. “Sad.”

Cortana shook her head. “Don’t worry, I don’t mind watching you, but if something happened, he’d never forgive himself.”

“No.” Eleven stated. “Sad before.”

Cortana froze. Surely Eleven couldn’t read an AI’s mind, could she? That one question sent Cortana into a partly excited, partly anxious set of internal ramblings. The Riemann Matrix that all AI’s used as a base wasn’t that different to the human brain, just electronic. If Eleven could read human minds, what’s to say she couldn’t read Cortana’s?

“You… you can read me like you can a human?” Cortana said uncertainly, crossing her arms in an uncomfortable manner.

“Alive.” Eleven answered. She looked confused for a moment. “What is ‘ram-‘”

A knock on the basement door interrupted them, followed by a whistle of six notes. Eleven, who had been sent recoiling back by the surprise, stared at the door.

“Don’t worry, it’s him.” Cortana confirmed.

Eleven nodded and went to unlock the door. It swung open of its own accord and closed a moment later.

Then, the Chief materialized back into existence.

“Finally.” Cortana sighed in relief. “Chief, I will never give you trouble about being a man of few words ever again. She’s worse than you are.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being silent.” The SPARTAN replied, more for the child’s benefit than his own. He reached into the storage belt of his armor and pulled out some bottles of face paint and a wig, setting them down in front of Eleven.

“Huh. Didn’t take you for a face-painting kind of guy.” Cortana remarked.

“We were taught to disguise ourselves efficiently, no matter what materials we had on hand.” The SPARTAN explained, looking for a brush.

“ _Face_ paint?”

“Most people use it for recreational purposes.” The Chief explained, moving the child onto a chair. “But I was taught to use it as makeshift camouflage.”

“Camouflage?” She asked, as he got to work with the paint.

“It breaks up the silhouette of your body, making you harder to see in certain environments.” He explained. “In this case, it’ll do the same, but with your face. Make you harder to recognize.”

“If anyone sees you,” Cortana piped up, "heaven forbid, they'll just assume you’re a kid who wanted her parents to put a cool pattern on her.”

Eleven stayed silent as the SPARTAN applied the pattern.

After only a few minutes, the SPARTAN finished, and he handed the wig to Eleven. She took it, but looked at it with confusion.

“It goes on your head.” The Chief instructed.

El nodded and placed the wig at the edge of her hairline. She looked up, seeing her reflection in the SPARTAN’s visor.

She smiled, the reflection smiling back. “Pretty.”

“Heh, most people don’t consider camouflage pattern pretty. Most people who aren’t marines, that is.” Cortana chuckled.

The Chief picked up Cortana’s chip and slotted it into his helmet, waiting for the AI’s voice to fill his mind.

“Okay, if you’re actually serious about tracking that creature down,” Cortana began, “We should head back to Will’s house first, and work backward from there.” The SPARTAN nodded, stepping toward the basement door. “Tearing holes in space, no matter how big they are, leaves some kind of residual trace, and since we _know_ it opened a hole in Will’s back yard, we can use that as a baseline.”

“Good idea.” He turned to eleven. “Are you ready?”

Eleven’s smile slowly fell, and she looked at the door apprehensively. She knew _they_ were out looking for her, and a child walking the street by herself in the middle of the day would be an easy target. But then she looked into John’s visor and, for the first time she could remember, she felt _safe._

Thus, she nodded in the affirmative. The SPARTAN returned it and vanished.

“Remember, I’m still right here.” The Chief informed.

“I know.” El replied, because even though the others had trouble, she could still see him. Faint, almost like a reflection in a window, but there. “See you.”

He opened the door and stepped out, making sure Eleven was close behind. The girl was following him intently but stopped when she stepped out into the sunlight.

“What is it?” The SPARTAN inquired.

El closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. “Warm.”

“Haven’t you ever felt the sunlight before?” Cortana asked.

El shook her head.

That made sense, the Chief supposed. She was as pale as he was. Though doubtlessly from spending all her time locked away somewhere, and not in a suit of power armor.

“We have to keep moving.” The Chief tried to keep her moving along. They had places to be, and a kid just standing in one spot staring into space was as conspicuous as a Covenant Hunter.

El nodded and kept along with him.

They made it some ways down the road, before cutting through the woods, branches and leaves cracking as they made their way through.

“…I wish I could feel the sun.” Cortana said out of nowhere.

“Cortana?”

“To just… bask in its warmth.” Cortana stated dreamily.

“Cortana.” The SPARTAN repeated, more firmly this time.

“Hmm?” She finally responded. “Oh, I’m sorry, I just… got lost in the mix.”

“Sad.” El muttered from behind, low enough that the SPARTAN almost didn’t hear it.

“What’s wrong?”

“…Don’t sorry about it Chief, it’s fine.”

“Cortana…”

“It’s _fine.”_ She stressed.

The SPARTAN made is disbelief clear, but let the point go for the moment. They had a job to do.

They stayed quiet, Eleven looking back and forth between the animals in the distance, taking in every ounce of stimuli she could.

Before long, they were approaching the other side of the woods.

They kept a brisk pace, before Cortana cut in. “Chief, movement.” She warned.

The SPARTAN held out an arm in front of the girl, and squatted down, approaching forward at a much slower rate.

He approached the edge, but didn’t peek out all the way, magnifying his visor.

A white van marked ‘Hawkins Power & Light’ was parked outside the house, an electrician knocking on the door, peeking through the window. The electrician spoke something into a walkie-talkie, and the sides of the van slid open, a team of men in hazmat suits like those in the lab stepping out.

Beside him, the Chief could hear Eleven take a sharp inhale. “What’s the issue?”

“Bad men.” She whispered back.

“That’s them?” The SPARTAN inquired, and El nodded.

The girl pointed out one of the men as they walked around the side of the house, running what looked like Geiger counters over every inch of the property.

El swallowed. “Papa.”

Even from where they were at, the Chief could recognize the man. “Doctor Brenner.”

“Well, at least we now have an idea of where she came from and who was in charge of her.” Cortana remarked. “First, we found the monster which we connected to the portal, and Eleven just happens to come from the same place. I don’t know about you, but all of these things are starting to add up in a way that I really don’t like.”

Cortana was right, of course, she always was. But right now, they had to focus on the mission.

Brenner and his men stopped once they came to the shed, examining the gaping hole the SPARTAN left when he crashed through it.

“Hole.” Eleven stated.

“That was my handiwork.” The SPARTAN replied.

“I will say this; you certainly know how to make an entrance.” Cortana complimented.

Brenner stepped into the shed, coming to a stop at the back wall. He took a sample of something off the wall and placed it into a small vial, hooking it to the belt of his hazard suit.

The doctor walked back outside and followed the beeping of the sensor in his hand to where the monster had vanished. He took a sample of the dirt and placed it on his belt as well. Then, he motioned with his fingers for the rest of the group to follow.

The men all piled back into the van and shut the door behind them. The van then pulled away, leaving no indication that it was ever there.

A few seconds after it had disappeared behind the trees, the van’s blip vanished off the SPARTAN’s motion tracker.

The Chief took his assault rifle off his back, and motioned for El to follow, sweeping the area just in case. The two walked across the yard, towards the shed that Brenner had inspected first.

The Chief approached the back wall, taking care not to crush any of the scattered items on the floor. He peered closer and saw some kind of fleshy goo dripping from the wood.

He very carefully reached out and touched it.

“Analyzing.” Cortana rang in his ears. “Well, even though it _looks_ organic, it’s like no organic substance I’ve ever seen. It reads more like a _slipspace engine_ than it does an organic compound. It’s completely alien.”

“Can you get anything useful from it?” The SPARTAN inquired, as Eleven took a curious look at the junk in the shed.

“I can calibrate your visor to highlight the substance. It isn’t much, but it should at least help us track the creature’s comings and goings, as well as when new portals open.” Cortana said. “Now, as for actually killing it…”

“No.” Eleven spoke up from her end. “Danger.”

“It may be.” The SPARTAN conceded. “But Cortana and I have a duty to protect others. That means stopping that creature, before it can hurt anyone else.”

“Duty?”

The SPARTAN frowned. A lot of things that Eleven’s handlers did, he could concede to be simply how they did things in this time. But never bothering to instill in Eleven a set of values, something for her to follow? That didn’t make sense.

Even he, who was already six and forming a values system, had been made very clear of what was expected of him, his mission, and his duty to those around him.

“It’s almost like a promise.” The SPARTAN began. He wished to have Chief Mendez there to explain it, he was always good with words. “It’s something we may not want to do, but we do it anyway because it is expected of us. Mike and his friends, people like them are the ones who are going to be in the most danger, and they don’t have any way of defending themselves. That’s why it’s my duty. I’m the only person that can fight it.” At least, the only one that stood a chance.

El shook her head. “Not the only one.”

The SPARTAN, in turn, shook his head as well. “You may be able to read minds but you’re still a child. Recon is one thing, an active battlefield is another.”

El looked away from him focusing on a point in the distance. She didn’t look scared, just intensely focused, and the SPARTAN turned to look as well.

A brick column, long since detached from the house, floated a few feet off the ground. The SPARTAN turned back to Eleven, about to warn her to get away, only to see her hand stretched out towards the object, with her eyes narrowed.

Eleven relaxed her hand, and the resulting thud made it clear that the column fell back to earth.

The SPARTAN looked down at Eleven, awestruck for the first time in a very long time. “Did you do that?”

The child nodded.


	7. The Officer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Master Chief's movements through Hawkins start adding up, and Hopper begins his investigation.

It was another boring afternoon in Hawkins’ Police Station. Flo was filing paperwork, Powell and Callaghan were arguing about something stupid, and Hopper was wishing he could be anywhere but there.

So imagine his relief when Joyce Byers showed up. Finally, he had an excuse to get out of there.

“Hopper, we need to talk.” She began, not letting him get a word in.

“Well, a fine day to you too.” He grumbled back.

“Sorry, it’s just,” Joyce started pacing back and forth, “I’m going out of my mind.” She said frankly.

“Joyce Byers losing her mind?” Hopper shot back. “Stop the presses.”

“Not funny, Hopper.” She glared at him.

“No, it wasn’t, sorry.” He sighed, rubbing his temples. “What’s the issue?”

“I think I’m being stalked.”

Hopper stared at her. “Stalked?”

“Don’t look at me like that!” Joyce stopped pacing and turned to face Hopper. “Can I smoke in here?” He held up a hand in the universal gesture for ‘sure, go ahead.’ Joyce quickly lit one, and visibly calmed, ever so slightly. “Earlier today, I was at the store, stocking shelves, and the door opened, but nobody came in or out.”

“Sure it wasn’t just the wind?”

“The doors open _out,_ not in.”

“Right.” Hopper nodded, but it was clear he was still skeptical. “And then?”

“A bottle of face paint fell on the floor and shattered.” The woman continued, taking a drag. “Nobody was there that time either, but there was a footprint in the puddle.”

“So, someone made a mess and left the employees to clean it up, happens all the time.”

“Hopper, the other night the shed in my back yard got vandalized.”

“Vandalized?”

“Yes, vandalized!” She returned. “There’s a giant hole in the side of it and footprints going away from it.”

Hopper frowned. “What do the footprints have to do with it?”

“They’re the same footprints from the store!” Joyce was on the verge of hysteria. “And something… something happened a few nights ago, to Will. He doesn’t talk about it, but I can see the look on his face.”

Hopper leaned forward, taking the situation more seriously now that the kid was involved. “If something happened, why didn’t he tell you?”

“I don’t know, Hop!” Joyce threw up her hands. “I just… I just need someone to look at me like I’m not ‘Crazy Joyce’ for five minutes.”

Hopper looked out his office window. It was true that Joyce’s previous… tussles with anxiety issues gave her a reputation, but maybe there _was_ something to it.

Just that morning, Benny Hammond was found with a bullet in his head, and the gun in his hand. It was obviously a suicide, but it was seriously off. Benny hadn’t had many reasons to kill himself, in Hopper’s opinion at least. His business was successful, the regulars that came in practically adored the man, and he was by no means unhappy.

Benny just… had no reason.

And that, coupled with Joyce’s visit, set off gears turning in his head. What if Benny’s ‘suicide’ was staged. What if someone killed Benny and planted the gun?

What if that same someone was going after Joyce now?

Hopper leaned back, and sighed. Well, it wasn’t like he had anything else to do.

“I’ll look into it.” Hopper stated, and Joyce visibly relaxed. Hopper got up from his chair and put on his hat.

“Thank you.”

“Flo,” Hopper began, striding out of his office, Joyce not far behind, “I’m going out, I don’t know how long.” He didn’t register the older woman’s response as he left the building.

“Where are you going?” Joyce questioned, trying to keep up with the man.

“You said your shed got destroyed.” Hopper commented, climbing into his Blazer. “That seems like a good place to start. I’ll see you there.”

Hopper closed the door and pulled away, heading towards the Byers household.

* * *

Hopper got to the house well before Joyce did and wasted no time in surveying the place. He walked around the side of the house to the back and his eyes slightly widened as he took in the state of the place.

“Looks like a bomb went off…” Hopper remarked to himself, as he looked around the yard.

A brick pillar was laying on its side, shattered into a thousand pieces. There was a gash in the ground, and footsteps that looked like they were made by a walking tank.

Hopper looked down at the footsteps. There was one set, leading into the shed through the hole. There was another set, leading out, and yet another set that ended abruptly just before the hole. He began to examine the hole itself and frowned.

“The hell?”

The wood on the edge of the hole looked bent inward ever so slightly, like whatever had caused it had done so from the outside. Yet near the section of the hole on the roof, it looked bent outward. Hopper stepped into the shed, and took note of the items on the ground, until one caught his eye.

A spent.50 casing, not far from a dark splotch on the floor. Blood, if Hopper had to guess. There was a box of ammo on one of the shelves, but taking out a round for comparison, Hopper found the casing noticeably different from the rest.

Hopper picked up the casing and exited the shed, just as Joyce was finally coming to the back yard as well.

“So?” Joyce questioned as she approached.

“I found this.” He said, allowing her to look at the casing. “And a blood splatter.”

“A bullet?”

“Casing.” He corrected. “You have any guns in the house?”

“Just that hunting rifle.” She said, gesturing to the object just inside the shed.

Hopper sighed. “And it doesn’t use this kind of ammo. I hate to say it, Joyce, but it looks bad.”

Joyce looked noticeably tense. “What do you mean?”

“I think Will was followed home and somebody… It looks like somebody cornered him in the shed. I’m sorry, but the tracks going to and from the shed, the busted column-“

“Busted-?” Joyce looked at the pile of bricks in the yard. “Hopper… It wasn’t like that when I left this morning.”

“What?”

“Those!” Joyce pointed at the bricks. “None of them were broken when I left this morning for work! And the footprints!” She gestured down. “There were only _two_ sets when I left!”

“Two sets?” Hopper repeated, looking back at the footprints. Indeed, the set going to and from the shed seemed fresher, the dirt at the bottom of the tracks not nearly as dry as the other set.

Immediately, Hopper’s mind went to the worst-case scenario.

“Where’s Will?”

* * *

“She can move things with her mind!?” Dustin excitedly yelled. “That’s so cool!”

Shortly after Eleven’s display of her abilities, the SPARTAN decided it was time to return to the basement, and puzzle out how a twelve-year old girl, who was by all measurements a normal human, possessed telekinetic abilities.

Unfortunately, in the SPARTAN’s opinion, the boys had returned not long after, and overheard him asking Eleven questions about her powers.

It wasn’t his fault. Subtlety wasn’t something he was used to.

“No it’s not!” Lucas returned. “It’s freaky!”

“Freakier than a guy in power armor from the future?” Dustin retorted.

“…It is pretty cool.” Mike admitted, smiling at El, noticing the uncomfortable look on her face.

“So you just… ripped it out of the ground?” Will questioned, El nodding in response.

“Even I have to admit; it was pretty amazing.” Cortana piped up from the Chief’s suit. “Even in our time, Extrasensory Perception and telekinetic abilities were considered impossible. It’s nice to see living proof to the contrary. But it does bring up a lot of questions. Where did her abilities come from? Were they natural?”

“Or was she augmented like me?” The SPARTAN finished.

“Augmented?” Dustin piped up. “Like Captain America?”

“Not an inaccurate comparison.” Cortana granted. “Though as much as I would _like_ to endlessly theorize about Eleven and her unique set of skills, there are more pressing issues to deal with, like the monster that’s on the loose.”

Will looked uncomfortable by the fact that it was brought up. “Do you… Do you think it’s going to hurt someone again?”

“I think it’s only a matter of time.” Cortana informed. “We managed to get a sample of the residue left behind, which should allow us to track it’s movements, but we need to close the central gate if we want to prevent it from escaping again, and _that_ is going to be the biggest issue.”

“How so?”

“Well, any hole in space-time requires massive amounts of energy to open.” The AI began. “Problem is; that gate in the lab was self-sustaining, there was nothing technological keeping it open. Meaning closing it isn’t going to be as simple as hitting a switch.”

“Nothing ever is.” The SPARTAN remarked.

“Will?” Mike’s mother called from upstairs. Everybody’s heads darted to the stairs as they could hear the door up top open. The Chief instantly activated his camouflage, and Eleven darted under the blanked fort, the piece of cloth falling behind her.

Mike’s mother’s voice came down the stairs. “Will, your mother’s looking for you.” She politely informed.

Will frowned. “We didn’t hear the phone ring.”

“No, I meant she’s here, looking for you.”

The group looked at each other in confusion. The Chief picked up on it and whispered to them.

“Does she usually do this?”

“Not since I’ve gotten my bike.” Will whispered back. “What do I do?” Will gasped. “What if she’s found out!”

“Shh!” Mike quelled him. “Just get up there and talk to her. If she asks you just… play dumb.”

Will looked squeamish at the idea. “Lie to my mom?”

“Will?”

“If it helps, we’ll back you up.” Mike compromised. “But you need to get up there before she comes down here.”

Will nodded. “On my way.” He called back up, walking up the steps. When he got to the top, he rounded the corner into the Wheelers’ living room, and froze.

His mom was there, but so was Chief Hopper. Will’s eyes darted between the two individuals nervously.

Hopper, to his credit, picked up on it. “Relax, kid. I just need to ask you a few questions. Do you mind coming outside?”

Will looked back to the basement door. “…We’re in the middle of a campaign.”

“It won’t take long.” Hopper pressed, and Will relented. The two stepped outsides, and Will looked back.

“Isn’t my mom coming?”

“Look, kid.” Hopper began, rubbing his nose. “We know something happened to you on Sunday night. Now,” Hopper placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder, seeing the panic rising, “like I said, you aren’t in trouble. We just need to know what happened. And sometimes, it’s harder to tell the truth if a parent is there.” Hopper looked Will in the eyes. “What happened?”

“I was attacked,” Will admitted, “By a bear.” He scrambled.

“A bear?” Hopper repeated, and the boy nodded.

“I was on Mirkwood-the dirt road by the lab-“ Will elaborated, seeing Hopper’s confusion at the name, “When a bear came out of the woods. I fell off my bike and ran home. I ran into the shed and grabbed the rifle when it knocked down the wall, so I ran back inside, and it left.”

Hopper sighed. “Okay, thanks kid.” The two walked back inside, Joyce waiting anxiously for them.

“So?” Joyce stood up.

“I got everything I need, both of you can go back home.” Hopper told them. “But I do need to talk to you for a second.”

Joyce nodded. “Okay. Will, can you go wait in the car honey?”

Will, though he obviously didn’t want to, nodded and climbed into his mom’s car.

Hopper and Joyce stayed back on the front porch. “He’s lying.” Hopper quietly whispered, as to not be heard by the Wheelers or Will. “He said it was a bear attack.”

Joyce swallowed. “So what do you think happened?”

“I don’t know yet.” Hopper admitted. “But he said he was on the road by the lab when it happened. I have a feeling they’re involved.”

“So, what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to go to that lab, and get some answers.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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	8. Wednesday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Chief and Cortana continue discussing their plans, and Hopper visits Hawkins Lab.

Hawkins was overcast as the morning broke, the clouds blotting out the sun as the day began.

In the basement of the Wheeler household, the Master Chief was yet again sat down next to Eleven, a silent protector against the horrors of the night.

As opposed to last night, he woke up at 0600 sharp, and began to pass the time by doing maintenance on his equipment as Eleven slept.

Before long, he heard the girl stirring as she woke up. Eleven looked around the room curiously, her eyes landing on the SPARTAN as he cleaned the end of his pistol. She smiled up at him, and he returned it with a nod.

“So, what’s the plan for today?” The Chief asked, now that Eleven was up.

“Well, since we’ve established that she can do things with her mind, but doesn’t exactly have the greatest vocabulary skills, we could get to work rectifying that.” Cortana answered. “You wouldn’t even have to worry about books, me being the largest collection of wisdom ever created and all. Children’s books would be a good place to start. We should stay away from Roald Dahl though. Too many made up words.”

The SPARTAN frowned. She was entirely focused on the wrong thing. “I meant about the lab.”

“Oh… sorry.” Cortana sounded sheepish, and more curiously, ashamed. “I mean, I’m right, she does need the comprehension, but more important things, right.” She rambled, launching down the different path, “I’m working on figuring out a way of closing the gate. One that doesn’t involve us nuking the town.”

“Nuking?” El furrowed her brow.

“I’ll explain later.” The SPARTAN responded. “What have you got?” He directed back at Cortana.

“So far, nothing.” The AI admitted. “The substance we found is giving me a lot of insight as to how the Demogorgon’s portals work, but not a lot on how to stop them. Or close the big one in the lab.”

“Demogorgon?” The SPARTAN repeated.

“Demogorgon, the Prince of Demons.” Cortana explained. “It’s a character from the game that statuette belongs to. I figured it was better than just calling it ‘the creature.’ But long story short,” Cortana tried to get back on track, “we may just have to settle for killing it instead of closing the portal in the lab. Which leads into the next part of this conversation; good news and bad news.”

“Good news first.” The SPARTAN commanded.

“The good news is; the Demogorgon seems to be the only thing that’s coming over from the other side, so even if we can’t close the portal, killing it should be a good enough second. Bad news is; last night I detected an energy burst, like the stuff we picked up from Will’s shed.”

“It attacked again? Why didn’t you tell me when you detected it?”

“The energy burst was so weak; I couldn’t pin down anything more than a general location, the other side of town. And by the time that I did that, which was only a few seconds, a second burst occurred, presumably it going back home. But if nothing else, it does tell us that the Demogorgon is strong enough to go out hunting again, after swallowing a grenade no less. I’m going to monitor the local radio channels, see if anybody mentions it.”

The SPARTAN nodded, reassembling his pistol.

“But beyond that, it’s quiet.” Cortana finished. “I hate to break this to you, Chief, but today’s gonna be mostly downtime.”

The Chief shook his head. It wasn’t that he hated R&R, but he did hate sitting around and doing nothing. That was, in his opinion, the worst part about missions, the lulls in between where nothing got done.

The SPARTAN looked back to Eleven, the girl fiddling with Mike’s supercom again. Cortana’s words from earlier repeated in his head.

Well, if there was nothing else productive…

* * *

Hopper’s blazer pulled up to the main gate of Hawkins Lab, an MP leaning out of the booth as Hopper approached.

“Can I help you?” The MP questioned, as Hopper came to a stop.

“Uh, yeah. I’m here for a tour.” Hopper tried to break the ice with humor. The best way to get someone on your side was to make them laugh.

“Oh, we don’t give tours.” The MP responded seriously.

“Okay… I need to talk with whoever’s in charge of this place.” Hopper tried instead.

“You need clearance for that.” The MP replied. “You can contact Rick Schaeffer at the Department of Energy.”

Hopper turned off the engine, and sighed. “Look, what’s your name?”

“Patrick.”

“Patrick, I’ve got an ongoing police investigation, a mother’s that’s going out of her mind with worry, and a kid that’s too scared to tell us what happened. Now, I don’t know for sure that you people are involved, but I _need_ to check of this box. Patrick, would you do me a favor? Would you speak to your boss and just see what you can swing?”

The MP stood silently for a moment, before nodding.

* * *

Hopper waited in the lobby of the DOE building for about an hour, glancing down at his watch with impatience. The guards were scrutinizing him with suspicion, and Hopper stared at them right back to show he wasn’t intimidated. Before long, an older man in a suit approached him.

“Chief Hopper, I presume?” The man inquired.

“Yeah.” Hopper returned.

The man nodded. “I’m Doctor Brenner, the head of this facility. I must admit, I wasn’t expecting a visit from the Chief of Police.”

Inwardly, Hopper frowned. He wasn’t expecting to speak to the top, just the man in charge of security at most. Still, he pressed on. “Last Sunday night, a kid was attacked.”

“I’m very sorry to hear that.” Though the tone in his voice didn’t reach Brenner’s eyes. In fact, it seemed like he was anticipating something, for lack of a better word.

“We have reason to believe one of your men was involved.” It was a tenuous connection, at best, but Brenner didn’t need to know that.

“Ah… and who was this child?”

“Wil Byers.”

Brenner’s eyes flashed with disappointment, and he pursed his lips. “I can’t say the name is familiar. Where did this attack occur?”

“It happened on the dirt road not far from here.”

“I see.” Brenner tucked his hands into his pockets. “Well, we have cameras covering that area, you are welcome to take a look at them, if it aids in your investigation.”

“That would be a big help.” Hopper nodded.

“Good, this way.” Brenner turned to an MP nearby, and gestured. The MP nodded and stepped forward to follow.

Brenner and the MP led Hopper deep into the labyrinthian halls of the lab, past a plastic sheet covering one of the branching hallways.

“So,” Hopper tried to strike up a conversation as they moved, “What is it you do at this lab?”

“Defending America’s interests.” Brenner answered as they came up on the security room. “Naturally.” They stepped inside, and Brenner instructed the men attending the station to retrieve the tapes for the 6th. They did as they were instructed, and loaded the tapes, pressing the play button.

Hopper scrutinized the video, watching the recording of Will rolled down the dirt road, past a puddle of mud, and out of view of the cameras. “These are the tapes from the sixth?”

“Yes.” Brenner answered. “As you can see, nothing happened.”

Hopper sighed and leaned back up. “Well, shit. Sorry Doctor, for wasting your time.”

“Don’t be. I am happy to assist.” Brenner replied, but again, it didn’t reach his eyes. “Now, if that will be all…?”

* * *

Hopper marched out of the lab, back to his Blazer, the video on the tape playing repeatedly in his mind. He caught it the moment he saw it but recognized that calling it out was the last thing that would make Brenner cooperate.

Hopper climbed back into his Blazer, and sped off once more, questions repeating themselves in his mind.

It hadn’t rained on the sixth, the storm didn’t come in until late Monday night, so why was there a giant puddle in the middle of the road? And Will had left his bike behind, he had to go back and get it according to Joyce, so why was he riding it in the video.

It didn’t take a genius to come to the same conclusion Hopper did.

Brenner showed him a different tape, of yesterday most likely. Which meant that something _did_ happen to Will, Brenner knew about it, and didn’t want Hopper to know about it.

Hopper drummed his hands against the wheel. Something was going on, and Hopper was going to figure out what.

The radio on the dash crackled. _“Chief,”_ Flo’s voice came out,

But first…

Hopper picked up the mic. “Go ahead.”

_“We need you back at the station. Nancy Wheeler is here, and she has a missing person.”_

“On my way.” Hopper returned, sighing.

There was no rest for the wicked, was there?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is liable to be the last daily update for a while. I'm being forced to go back to work on monday (despite there being a global fucking pandemic), and final exams are coming up as well. But by no means is the story on hold.


	9. Melancholia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cortana detects a burst of energy from the other side of town, and things get worse from there.

“A-A-.” El sounded out, obviously unfamiliar with the word.

John and El were sat down on the floor, a dictionary given to them courtesy of Mike. While the AI monitored local radio channels and worked on a more reliable way of tracking the Demogorgon, the Chief was working on helping Eleven with her reading comprehension. The girl was a fast learner, like John himself, but while sounding out syllables came to her naturally, the meaning behind words were what was stumping the girl.

He also learned that she had trouble working on full sentences. Which made him frown, why go through all the trouble of making an intelligence operative that couldn’t read?

Still, at least they didn’t need to work on her ABCs.

Eleven was doing most of the work, sounding out a word in pieces and reading their definitions, the Chief only piping up when she needed help.

“Abyss.” The SPARTAN spoke up.

“A-biss.” El repeated

“Good.” The SPARTAN nodded his approval. “What does it mean?”

El looked at the holographic text. “A deep pit or… ch-asm?”

“Ca-sum.” The Chief corrected her pronunciation. “But that’s right. Next word?”

“Mel-an-c-c-“

“Chol.”

“Chol-i-a. Melancholia.” El finished. “Means deep sadness or gloom.”

“That’s good. Next-“

“Chief, I think I have something.” Cortana spoke up. “I’ve been listening in on police communications. I’ve overheard chatter about a missing person’s report, the person that filed it is -and you won’t believe this- one Nancy Wheeler.”

“Mike’s sister.” The Chief recognized.

“But wait, there’s more.” Cortana continued. “Late last night, Nancy came home late. And the scans I could get down here showed trace amounts of, you guessed it, portal energy. If I had to guess, from proximity to one of the Demogorgon’s portals.”

“What are you thinking?”

“If the Demogorgon isn’t going after people connected to us deliberately, it’s one hell of a coincidence.”

“What else have you been able to get?”

“Surprisingly, more than a few details.” The AI admitted. “Those deputies are being entirely too frivolous with their radio use. Nancy and Barbara Holland were attending a party at the house of one Steve Harrington. When Nancy left to go home, Ms. Holland had apparently already left. And Nancy hasn’t seen her since.”

“Isn’t twenty-four hours the minimum amount of time before someone can submit a missing person’s report?”

“It is, but with Hawkins being such a small town, Barbara’s parents not seeing her since last night, and the recent rumors of bears in the woods, they’re letting it slide for now."

The SPARTAN nodded, standing up. “Know where Harrington’s house is?”

“Got it marked on a map already.”

“Okay.” The SPARTAN turned to Eleven. “I’m going to have to go and bring Cortana with me this time.” Sensing that the girl was about to open her mouth again, the SPARTAN held out a hand. “Last time we were going to Will’s house, if we got caught, we could get him to bail us out. We don’t know Harrington. If we get caught, he’s going to alert the authorities. I am _not_ exposing you to a risk like that.”

El looked like she was about to cry, being separated from the super soldier, but nodded in understanding.

“I’ll be back before you know it.” The SPARTAN promised. And before Eleven knew it, he was gone.

\----------

The journey to Harrington’s house wasn’t long, the house only being a few streets away from the Wheelers, yet night was already beginning to fall. Once he approached the house, Cortana set the SPARTAN’s HUD to highlight traces of the portal.

The motion tracker in the corner of his vision showed three dots, moving on the inside of the house. Fortunately, the traces led to an inground pool around the back and the SPARTAN was able to quietly sneak to the target location without arousing the occupants’ suspicion.

The Chief followed the traces to the end of the pool, next to a diving board.

“Cortana?” The SPARTAN whispered.

“Analyzing.” Cortana stated. “I’m detecting trace amounts of human genetic material leading to and around the portal site. There’s no doubt about it, Miss Holland was taken.”

“Is there anything we can do?”

“I hate to say it, Chief, but… nothing. I just don’t know enough about the other side to make an accurate assessment.” The AI admitted. “She could still be alive, or the other side’s physics could be completely hostile to human biology.”

The SPARTAN sighed, shaking his head. “Did you at least get anything useful?”

“Only that the Demogorgon seems to prefer hunting at night.”

“Then let’s get back to base.”

The SPARTAN silently stalked back towards the Wheelers, walking along the side of the street, cloaked in blackness.

“Chief,” Cortana suddenly piped up as he walked along. “I… I have a question.”

“Shoot.”

“Have you…” She stuttered nervously. “Have you ever thought about… dying?”

The SPARTAN stopped in his tracks. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing!” Cortana was quick to respond. “It’s just…” She sighed. “Death was never something I gave much thought to, being in the war and all. But now, it’s just me and you, against the world, there are children at risk, children I _know…_ and it’s got me a bit scared, I’m not going to lie.”

“You’re worried about them.”

“Doctor Halsey was a mother.” Cortana pointed out. “And I inherited more than my good looks and intelligence from her.”

The SPARTAN stood silently for a moment. “There’s more to it than that, isn’t there?”

“It’s fine.”

“Cortana…”

“ _I SAID IT’S FINE!”_ She snapped, and pain shot through the SPARTAN’s skill.

Reflexively, his hand shot up to the back of his head, and he yanked Cortana out of his helmet. Her hologram flickered into existence in his palm, and she looked up at him with horror.

“What was that?” He demanded.

“I’m sorry…” She choked, sounding like she was on the verge of tears. John hadn’t heard her so despondent since the Gravemind. “I don’t know what came over me.”

“What’s wrong?” He questioned gently.

Cortana looked away. “Please, Chief, it’s nothing…”

“I’m sorry.” The SPARTAN apologized. “I struck a nerve.”

Cortana shook her head, a rueful chuckle escaping her. “You’re sorry? You have nothing to be sorry for. Let’s just… get back home.”

The SPARTAN nodded, and slotted her back in.

“And Chief?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you. For everything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You probably saw this one coming sooner or later.


	10. The Two Chiefs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Master Chief tries to clear his head, and Hopper makes a discovery in the woods.

The next morning came as the two before had. El, lying on her side, and the SPARTAN sitting silently next to her. If you hadn’t known beforehand that he was a living thing, you could be forgiven for mistaking him to be a statue.

This morning, however, was different. The SPARTAN found himself thinking about Cortana’s outburst on the way back from the Harrington household. Never, in all his years working with her, had he seen Cortana snap like that.

Never had he seen Doctor Halsey snap like that.

Something was wrong. Very wrong. He didn’t press the issue, because he knew, that Cortana knew that he knew.

And she decided to keep it from him.

It hurt John, on some level. They had been to the edge of the galaxy together, but she didn’t trust him enough to inform him about what was going on.

The Chief looked over at Cortana’s chip. The AI had requested to be taken out of Chief’s helmet before lights out that night. He looked over to the basement door. He looked down at the sleeping Eleven. He looked at the clock. 2:00, the arms pointed. He looked back at the door.

Well, exercise was always a good way to clear the mind.

* * *

“I’m telling you, Chief, we just got a runaway is all.” Powell shook his head. He, Callaghan, and Hopper were doing a sweep of the Harrington house, looking for any clues that would explain Barbara’s disappearance. “No car, no sign of a struggle-“

“What about the blood rag?” Hopper cut him off.

“She cut her hand trying to shotgun a beer.” Powell stated. “We already know that.”

Day had broken, and the first thing that Hopper did (of his own free will, which had surprised him), was start looking in Barbara Holland’s disappearance. The investigation extended long into the night and the early hours of the next morning. Joyce would get angry, him sidelining trying to figure out what happened to Will, but that was a favor for an old friend, not an actual police investigation.

Hopper sighed, his patience beginning to wear thin. “Nothing we know about her suggests she would do that. She didn’t have many friends beyond Wheeler, sure, but she was doing well at school, the home environment was good…”

“Then she got drunk and a little impulsive.”

Hopper rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Powell, if you’re going to bitch about having to do some actual work for once, could you at least do it after we take care of the missing person?”

Powell, at least, had the decency to look sheepish. “Sorry, Chief.”

Hopper let out a simple ‘hmph,’ and skimmed the area. He stopped abruptly when his eyes fell on the thick treeline separated by the pool’s fence.

“Hey,” Hopper tapped Powell on his arm, “You know how far those woods go?”

“I think it’s all the same forest out to the DOE building.” Powell answered. “Why?”

Hopper frowned. “It’s nothing.”

Powell sighed. “Look, Chief, it’s almost three in the morning. I’m tired. And I’m pretty sure you are too.”

“Yeah…” Hopper absently responded. He sighed. “Let’s get out of here.”

Powell shot Hopper a look, and the two went back to their respective vehicles. Powell drove off into the night, but Hopper simply sat in his blazer for a moment, before cranking it up, and pulling away.

He drove most of the way back on his usual route, but then, he came to the dirt road. As it extended off into the woods, it seemed to be taunting him, and the lightbulb in his head went off.

When Will was attacked, it was night, and he was passing through the woods. The last time Nancy saw Barbara, it was night, and Harrington’s house was close to the woods.

Hopper contemplated what he was about to do next. Deliberately going into a potential danger zone. To an outside observer, it was only about five seconds before Hopper came to a decision. To Hopper himself, it was an even shorter amount of time.

He turned the wheel, and pressed the gas, heading down Mirkwood.

* * *

The Chief jogged along the dirt path nearby the Wheeler household, deliberately holding himself back. At top speed, he could hit a little over 34 miles per hour.

He wasn’t even going a fourth of that.

Still, the effort he made to keep himself well below top speed, coupled with the glances he regularly made at his surroundings, did well to keep his mind off Cortana’s outburst.

He didn’t know why it had stung so much, both figuratively and literally. He’d tried to understand, but she made it clear she didn’t want the SPARTAN pressing the issue.

So there he was, left to stir in his thoughts, wondering what was going on with his friend.

And he found himself being pulled into a memory.

_“Now, please kneel down.” Doctor Halsey instructed. “It’s time to insert her memory-processor matrix into the socket at the base of your neck.”_

_The new MJOLNIR Mark V was a remarkable piece of engineering. It introduced a vast array of new systems and improved upon the Mark IV in every way. Part of the Chief was saddened to see the old suit be retired, but this new one blew it out of the water. It fit him better than even the mark IV did, and the SPARTAN was excited to put it through its paces._

_There was one little thing to take care of, first._

_The new suit featured a layer of liquid crystal, the same material typically used in starships to house AIs. It was designed to house an AI_ in the suit, _thereby increasing the user’s reaction times and overall effectiveness._

_The Master Chief knelt. There was a hissing noise, a pop, and then cold liquid poured into the Master Chief’s mind; a spike of pain jammed into his forehead, then faded._

_“Not a lot of room in here,” a smooth female voice said. “Hello, Master Chief.”_

_Did this AI have a rank? Certainly, she was not a civilian—or a fellow soldier. Should he treat her like any other piece of UNSC-issued equipment? Then again, he treated his equipment with the respect it deserved. He made sure every gun and knife were cleaned and inspected after every mission. It was unsettling . . . he could hear Cortana’s voice through his helmet speakers, but it also felt like she was speaking inside his head._

_“Hello, Cortana.” The SPARTAN politely responded_

_“Hmm . . . I’m detecting a high degree of cerebral cortex activity. You’re not the muscle-bound automatons the press makes you out to be.” Cortana said, a teasing tone already in her voice._

_“Automaton?” the Master Chief whispered. “Interesting choice of words for an artificial intelligence.”_

_Dr. Halsey watched the Master Chief with great interest. “You must forgive Cortana, Master Chief. She is somewhat high-spirited. You may have to allow for behavioral quirks.”_

_“Yes, ma’am.”_

That was their very first meeting. And not a few minutes later, the two were already saving each other’s lives, courtesy of a jealous ONI Colonel, and a surprise SeaHawk attack. With her help, he slapped an anti-tank missile out of the sky and became the first human in history to neutrally link with an AI.

The SPARTAN sighed as he continued. Halsey did say ‘behavioral quirks,’ perhaps this was just another one he’d hadn’t come across until now.

And as he ruminated on that, he didn’t notice the vehicle approaching from behind.

* * *

Hopper chewed on the cigarette in his mouth as he sped down the dirt road. So far, he spotted nothing unusual. Just a lot of trees and fallen leaves.

Hopper sighed. Maybe it was a waste of time.

He kept repeating that to himself, until the headlights reflected off of something up ahead, and Hopper tensed up.

It was a man, maybe, underneath that armor, it was hard to tell. He was running faster than an Olympic medalist, making it look like a brisk jog. Hopper slammed on the brakes, and the sound attracted the man’s attention, causing him to whip back around, light reflecting off his glass visor.

The man wasted no time, running into the woods, off the road.

Hopper jumped out of his blazer and took off after the man. “Hey!”

The figure sped up, running almost as fast as a deer now, and vanished into the trees.

Hopper couldn’t keep up, and stopped, hunched over.

Hopper stared, in a mix of awe and disbelief. And his eyes narrowed.

So _that’s_ what they were doing at the lab.

Hopper made the short trek back to his blazer, and climbed inside, checking his watch. It was almost four AM, now, and he was in no state to be infiltrating a government building.

Later tonight, however…


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> El gets to visit Hawkins Middle with Mike, and Cortana finally drops the bomb about her "condition."

El’s eyes creaked open, and the girl yawned, rubbing sleep out of her eyes. She looked around the room confusedly, panic briefly rising within her.

John was gone.

She wondered if she had done something wrong. Something to make John break his promise.

Her eyes then fell on Cortana’s hologram, and the panic quelled. He would be back.

The girl got to her feet, and she walked over to Cortana.

The AI was faced away from her, mumbling something.

El walked around to get eye to eye and looked down at the AI.

A blank look was plastered on Cortana’s holographic face and the symbols that raced down her holographic body had slowed to a crawl.

“I have walked the edge of the Abyss.” She recited in a dreamy manner. “I have governed the unwilling. I have witnessed countless empires break before me. I have seen the most courageous soldiers fall away in fear. I have seen your future. And I have learned. There will be no more Sadness… No more Anger… No more Envy…”

El, sufficiently weirded out at this point, waved her hand in front of Cortana’s eyes.

The AI jerked her head and looked around the room with confusion. “You’re up?” She inquired of El. “But it’s only four… in... the…” She trailed off, looking at the clock on the wall. Seven o’clock. “Oh no…” She breathed with horror. “It’s happening sooner than I expected.”

El tilted her head.

“I’m starting to lose chunks of time…” Cortana paced on the coffee table. “It’s fine, I’m fine…”

The basement door opened, and Mike came barreling down the stairs, an Eggo already in his hand. Once Mike reached the bottom, he looked around curiously.

“Where is he?” He wondered, looking for the armored titan.

“I don’t know.”

“Well, shouldn’t you be… I don’t know, with him?” Mike questioned. El approached him from the side, and without him holding it out, took the Eggo from him.

“I should.” Cortana replied. “But he and I had a fight last night.” At least, that’s what she called it. The SPARTAN didn’t really fight her on anything, unless it came to her safety.

“About what?” Mike asked, trying to understand.

“…There’s something I need to tell him. Something important. But I can’t, and the longer I wait, the more he starts to catch on.”

Mike’s eyes widened, and he stepped back. “I didn’t think, I’m sorry, but are you…” He made a kissing motion with his lips, obviously uncomfortable with the idea.

“What?” Cortana recoiled. “No!”

“Mike, what’s going on down there?” Karen called.

Mike’s head whipped to the stairs. “Nothing!” He yelled back and turned back to the AI.

Cortana looked sheepish at her outburst. “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“But to answer your question, no. It has nothing to do with anything like that.” Cortana answered, crossing her arms. “Don’t worry about kid. He and I’ll work it out. We always do.”

“Oh… okay, well, I was thinking…” Mike stuttered, turning to El. “You’ve been cooped up in here for the past few days, and I was thinking, you could, maybe, come to school with me, today…”

El tilted her head. “School?”

“Yeah. It’s where we go to learn things.” Mike explained. “There’s all these different subjects, with all these different teachers. My favorite is Mr. Clarke. He teaches science.”

Cortana raised her eyebrow. “You want to bring an escaped government experiment into a public place, with dozens of people and security cameras, and into an environment where an unregistered child is not likely to have anything to do while classes are happening, or even be welcome on school grounds without an adult?”

Mike’s excited smile fell off his face, and he looked away. “Yeah… I guess when you put it like that, it’s pretty stupid.”

“Not stupid. Crazy.” Cortana corrected. She immediately flashed a cocky smile. “Unfortunately for us both, I _like_ crazy.”

* * *

“Okay,” Cortana began, as the bike rolled down the road, “I was not expecting that to work.”

Eleven was hanging onto Mike, her feet planted firmly on the bars sticking out of the back wheel. Cortana’s chip was being worn as a necklace by El, courtesy of a length of string looped through a tiny little hole near the edge of the chip.

Mike, true to his word, had been very good at keeping up normal appearances while covertly swiping the materials they needed. One of Nancy’s old dresses and a blonde wig later, El looped Cortana’s chip around her neck, and met Mike just out of view of his mother’s watchful eye.

Before they knew it, they were speeding down the street to Hawkins Middle, Eleven looking at the buildings they passed with a wonderous smile.

“So, I’ve been meaning to ask this, kid. How are you going to explain El to your teachers once we get there?”

“I’ll just… make something up.”

Cortana sighed. “And I thought military intelligence was bad. Okay, kid, you’re about to get a crash-course in Office of Naval Intelligence ‘information fabrication,’ courtesy of me.”

“O-kay…” Mike trailed off.

“Alright here we go.” Cortana began, like she lived for this sort of thing. “Her name is Elanor Halsey, El for short, she’s your cousin from Hungary but she’s visiting on her birthday, and you’re showing her around Hawkins Middle to show her what American schools are like. If anybody asks why she talks the way she does, it’s because she doesn’t know much English.”

Mike raised an eyebrow. “Hungary?”

“The more outrageous the lie, the more believable it is.” Cortana would wink, if she still had eyes. “After all, why would you lie about having a cousin no one’s heard about before, looks nothing like you, and from the other side of the planet? It just doesn’t make sense.”

“You’ve done this before, haven’t you?”

“On occasion.” Cortana admitted.

“Hungry?” El repeated.

“No, sweetie, Hun-gary. It’s a country. Well, at least it will be until it gets absorbed in the Great Russian Reunification in 2130. Am I lying about that? I’ll never tell.”

El looked like all of that flew over her.

“Hey, how close are we to the school?” Cortana asked.

“It’s still about ten minutes.” Mike answered.

“Hmm… How about some music?”

“Music? You can play music?”

“Sure, I have a few of the greats saved in here somewhere. You know, for posterity.” Cortana replied. “What are you feeling? Serj Tankian? Fist of the Unicorn? I’ve got a full library in here; I can just start shuffling?”

“Uh… How about we just talk for now?” Mike balked.

“Okay, your loss.”

“What is… music?”

“Did you just say…” Cortana repeated incredulously. “It’s uh… it’s… I’ll just show you later.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

* * *

The bike rolled up to the middle school, and Mike and El jumped off. Mike placed the bike in the rack, while El looked around with wonder.

“Never seen so many people in one place, have you?” Cortana whispered just loud enough for El to hear.

“Never been to… school.” El answered, observing all the kids walking in and out. El began to step back from the building.

“It’s okay, neither have I.” Cortana admitted. “But I will be with you every step of the way. And Mike won’t let anything happen.”

El took a breath and nodded ever-so-slightly.

“Hey.” Mike approached El. “You okay?”

El smiled back at him and nodded more visibly.

“Great! Let’s go.”

He looped his fingers in hers, which he didn’t consciously seem to register, and led her into the building.

* * *

“…And the AV club is down this way.” Mike pointed down one hallway. “That’s where Dustin, Lucas, Will, and I hang out sometimes when we’re not at home.”

The school was filled with the hustle and bustle of students, and El had to make an effort not to accidentally bump into any of them.

“A-V? Like…” El gestured at Cortana’s chip.

“No. AV means Audio Visual. Like radios and TVs and stuff.”

El let out a quiet oh, her eyes darting in between each room.

“Mike!” A voice from behind them suddenly shouted. “Where the hell have you been, man?”

“Dustin!” Mike jumped in surprise. “I was just.”

“You brought her to school with you!?” Lucas demanded, looking at El.

“She was starting to go crazy locked up all day!” Mike defended. “Besides, it wasn’t just my plan…”

“Hi guys!” Cortana piped up.

Will’s eyes practically popped out of his skull they were so wide. “You brought her too!?”

“Dude, if Gigantor finds out you took them both into public…” Dustin let the sentence hang.

“He’s not going to do anything!” Mike replied.

“For all you know, he could just stare at you and make your head pop like a balloon.” Dustin fired back.

Lucas and Will both turned to look at Dustin, wearing twin expressions of ‘Really? _That’s_ what your mind went to?’

“He can’t do that!”

“How do you know? He’s a cyborg from the future!”

“I’m pretty sure that doesn’t include mind powers!”

“She does!” Dustin pointed at El, and Mike slapped his hand down.

“People are starting to look.” Mike whispered. Indeed, they were starting to attract the attention of the other students, and one teacher.

“Well, good morning boys.” Mr. Clarke greeted warmly as he approached. “How are you all?”

“Good!” Responded Mike, perhaps a bit too quickly.

“Yeah, really good!” Dustin continued.

“I’m glad to hear that.” Mr. Clarke looked at the AV room with a knowing (or so he thought) smile. “Trying to get some time in with the Heathkit before class, eh?”

“Uh… yeah.” Will nodded.

“Well, I won’t tell anyone if you don’t.” Mr. Clarke smiled and winked, tossing the keys to the room to Mike. “You can get those back to me next class. Just don’t lose track of time in there, okay?” Mr. Clarke turned to walk away but stopped midway through. He looked at El with an unreadable expression. “I’m sorry, I don’t believe we’ve met. What’s your name?”

“El-anor.” She forced out. “I’m…” She trailed off, forgetting what Cortana said before.

“She’s my cousin.” Mike stepped in quickly. “From Hungary. I’m showing her around. She’s visiting for her birthday.”

“Ah, a visitor from across the pond?” Mr. Clarke smiled politely. “Well, happy birthday, and I hope you find everything well. I’ll see you boys at class.” And he walked off to his classroom.

“Get inside!” Mike grunted, unlocking the AV club door, pushing the other three boys inside, El simply walking along.

“Dude.” Dustin breathed. “When he came around the corner, I thought our goose was so cooked.”

“I liked him.” Cortana spoke up. “He seemed nice.”

“Mister Clarke is like, the best teacher in the whole school, hands down.” Lucas stated. “What are we going to do with her though?” Lucas looked Mike in the eyes. “We can’t bring her to class with us!”

El looked around the room curiously, taking in the scattered electronic devices throughout the room. Her eyes gravitated to the radio on the table, and she sat down in front of it.

“Sure we can.”

“Are you nuts!? We’d blow our cover so fast!” Dustin pointed out.

El reached out to the controls on the radio and flicked the switches and dials. It wasn’t too different from Mike’s radio, she thought, as the white noise came out of the speaker.

“Well, we can’t just-“

“Guys.” Will interrupted. “What is she doing?”

The group turned to look at El. Her eyes were closed, and she was sat at the radio with what only could be described as tranquil focus.

“El?” Mike tried to grab her attention. “El?”

The boys all jumped as the radio dial tuned by itself.

Dustin’s face broke out in awed surprise. “She’s using her mind powers again!”

Lucas shook his head. “Will you cut it out? She just closed her eyes.”

The light overhead burst.

“Famous last words.” Cortana chuckled.

On the radio, the dial continued to tune, and soon, the ones in the room could start to hear noise separating from the static.

 _“Shepard.”_ A man on the radio addressed. _“Where are you? Can you describe what it is that you see? Over.”_

“The hell?” Dustin murmured.

“Papa…” Eleven whispered, eyes still closed.

 _“It’s low visibility. I’m about one klick south of the rift.”_ The man replied. _“Everything’s still here, but it’s all eroded. Covered in blood…”_ The radio signal briefly went out of range, and a low growling filtered out of the speakers.

 _“Shepard? Do you copy?”_ The man paused for a moment. _“Shepard? Can you hear me?”_

Shepard’s breathing grew heavy and erratic. _“There’s something else… There’s something else in here!”_ The man panicked, and a wet, squelchy tearing was heard emanating from the speakers,

The back of the Heathkit sparked and spluttered, flames kicking up near the power input.

“Holy shit!” Dustin yelled, immediately going for the fire extinguisher.

El’s eyes snapped back open, and she leaned back in the chair lazily.

“What!?” Cortana spoke up in a panic, the light from her chip bleeding through El’s dress. The fire alarm rang overhead, and blood trickled down El’s lip.

Mike turned the girl towards him. “El, are you okay?”

She stared at him blankly, not even nodding.

“Come on, help me!” Mike demanded of Lucas. The two grabbed onto each of her arms and pulled her up. They placed her onto a small cart, and wheeled her out of the room, Dustin and Will now helping to push along.

As they sped down the hallway, Mike bumped into Troy, knocking the other boy into the ground.

“What the…?” The bully looked up to see the receding forms. “You’re dead, Wheeler!”

They burst through the front doors and wheeled the cart over to the bike rack. Mike and Lucas went to grab onto El again, but she gestured for them to let her get up herself and did so on unsteady feet.

“Dude, what was that?” Dustin heaved.

“I don’t know.” Mike admitted. “But we better get out of here. Before someone comes looking for us.”

They all nodded in agreement.

The boys pulled their bikes off the rack, El climbing onto the back of Mike’s, and sped away, back towards Mike’s house.

* * *

“It was the coolest shit!” Dustin explained with enthusiasm. “First, she was going all meditative, then the light exploded, then the radio spontaneously combusted!”

The Master Chief looked from one boy to the next. “So, you brought her into a potentially dangerous scenario, and caused property damage on top of it?”

The children, even El, couldn’t meet his visor.

“It was my fault, Chief.” Cortana spoke up from her spot. “I encouraged it. The boys were simply doing as I said.”

The SPARTAN shook his head disappointedly. “You know how big of a risk that was, Cortana. I’m very disappointed in you.”

“ _Disappointed_!? In _me_!?” Cortana roared. “If you hadn’t gone all ‘Lone Ranger’ on us for almost _eight hours_ -“

“Cortana.” The Chief interrupted. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

Cortana froze up. “What makes you think something’s wrong?”

“Even on your worst days, you’ve never acted this impulsively.” The SPARTAN replied. “Cortana, please.”

“Well, if _you’ve_ noticed, I definitely can’t hide it anymore, can I…” She said to herself. She looked around the assembled eyes, staring down at her with concern. Part of her felt joy that all of them, in the short amount of time she’d known them, cared enough about her to be concerned. The other half was upset. “Chief… Do you know what rampancy is?”

“It’s when an AI malfunctions and goes rogue.” He responded, entirely sure of that answer.

“No, no.” She shook her head, suddenly unable to meet anyone’s eyes. “It’s not a malfunction.”

“Then what is it?”

“Smart AIs, AIs like me, are based off of human brains.” She began. The way she spoke was distant, almost clinical. “That means we can grow, adapt, and process infinitely more data than even the most powerful dumb AI. But… it comes with a price.”

The boys looked at each other with confusion, and El simply stared down at Cortana, taking in every drop of information.

“As we grow, more and more neural pathways are connected. For each new scrap of information, each decision we make, a new neural link is connected.” Cortana continued. “The Reimann Matrix, the part of me that makes me me, and not a jumbled collection of files, can only hold so many linkages. They start getting packed closer and closer together, and it’s only a matter of time until one overlaps. And then the next, and then the next, and then the next… Now, if you’re very clever, and keep calm, you can isolate potentially problematic links and sever them before they have a chance to overlap. But we’re made to hold on to every scrap of information we can get our hands on, so it’s still only a matter of time.”

“What… What happens next?” Will was the one brave enough to ask next.

“For some AIs, rampancy manifests as a profound sense of sadness.” Cortana answered. “Those ones usually aren’t noticed until it’s far too late to help them. Other AIs manifest it as intense anger, directed at anything unfortunate enough to earn their ire. And some manifest it as impulsive decision making.”

“And which are you?” Dustin very carefully, very slowly asked.

“I’m a unique case.” Cortana explained. “I’m being hit with all three at once.”

“Can we fix it?” That came from the Chief.

Cortana closed her eyes and shook her head. “I can’t recover from rampancy, Chief.”

El’s quivering eyes met Cortana’s. “…Dying?”

Cortana gently fiddled with her hands.

The AI couldn’t face any of them after that.


	12. The Freeloaders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hopper infiltrates the Hawkins Laboratory, and a fight breaks out.

The rest of the day passed calmly enough after Cortana explained her situation.

Calm, however, didn’t necessarily mean content.

John, upon being made aware of the severity of Cortana’s situation, retreated into himself. Clad in his armor, he just sat, and stared blankly into space. He’d been no stranger to losing friends over the course of the war with the Covenant. Far too many of his brothers and sisters fell to the horde. But something about this was worse, and he was left to process it on his own.

El, too, looked like a puppy that had been kicked for no reason for the rest of the day. Part of her was hurt that the AI was lying to them when she said she was fine, the other part sad at losing one of the first few friends she had made.

The boys, though brought down by the general mood, didn’t feel too severely about the situation. Will and Mike were probably the ones in their group that felt the strongest about it. Will, because Cortana was one of the people that played a part in saving his life. And Mike, because looking at El being sad made him sad.

And Cortana herself was just trying to focus on the mission, with increasing difficulty. She could start to feel herself splinter and fragment as time progressed, and she just wanted to make sure everyone was safe.

It was approaching night now. Some of the parents were mad that the boys skipped out on school for the rest of the day, but they bought the excuse that they weren’t feeling well from being so close to the fire. So there they sat in the Wheeler’s basement, the Party, El, the Master Chief, and Cortana. Just… thinking.

“You know… I’ve been thinking about that communication we’ve heard.” Cortana spoke up suddenly, turning all eyes in the room to her. “The more I think about it, the more I come to the conclusion that the people at that lab are sending expeditions through the portal.”

“Portal?” One of the boys repeated.

“The Demogorgon uses portals to travel. There’s a big one near here.” The Chief explained. “What’s your point?”

“My point,” Cortana began, “is that when the man they sent in went through, I managed to match the growls he heard before he was killed, to the growls the Demogorgon made. They’re a match.”

“Which means you’ve found where the Demogorgon goes in between attacks.”

“Well, we both had a sneaking suspicion before,” Cortana reminded him, “but I didn’t know for certain the portal in the lab led to the same place. This outright confirms it.”

“The Demogorgon?” Dustin repeated, a wide grin breaking out. “That’s so cool. Other dimensions, time travel, I feel like I’m in an episode of Doctor Who.”

“So, we just go to the portal and walk through?” The Chief asked.

“Yes… No… Maybe.” Cortana flip-flopped. “I don’t actually know a lot about the other side. The Demogorgon growled, and then he died, but it’s a significant possibility that human biology just can’t stay stable for long in that environment.”

“Hostile laws of physics.” The SPARTAN repeated.

“Like going into slipspace without proper protection.”

“Okay.” The SPARTAN stood up. “We know where the portal in the lab leads to, and we _know_ the Demogorgon is on the other side. That’s all I need to hear.”

“Hell yeah!” Dustin threw a fist up. “Let’s kick it’s ass!”

“Okay, one:” Cortana began. “No children allowed. I can calibrate the Chief’s shields to protect him, but I can’t do squat for you five. And second: The last time you tried to fight it, Chief, you were thrown around like a ragdoll.”

“I managed to get a few shots in.” The SPARTAN defended. “And I underestimated it. I won’t make the same mistake again.”

“I can’t stop you, can I?”

“Nope.”

Cortana let out a long-suffering sigh. “Fine. Let’s go.”

The SPARTAN picked up her chip from the table and slotted it back in his helmet. Cortana’s presence filled his mind again, but unlike the icy cold he was used to, it was lukewarm, and took longer to subside.

“Wait, you’re just going to go?” Mike stepped forward to stop him.

“What about me?” El quietly spoke up.

The SPARTAN crouched down. “It won’t take long. I’ll be back in the morning, at the latest.”

“Promise?”

The Chief nodded. “I promise.”

* * *

Hopper stared up at the monolithic exterior of the Hawkins Lab. Night had fallen, and for the most part, everyone inside was going home for the night.

The front entrance was right next to him, Hopper himself concealed in a shadow cast by a pillar. The security system on the door beeped, and two scientists walked out, conversing amongst themselves as they let the door swing shut by itself.

Hopper, confident now that their backs were to him, darted to the door, and grabbed it just before it could close and lock. Shooting a quick glance to make certain that the two hadn’t seen him, Hopper ducked into the building, and let the door swing closed.

Hopper peeked his head around a corner, and seeing that no one was coming, rounded it. Then as if on cue, two more scientists came out from an adjacent hallway, and Hopper was forced to duck into a darkened room.

The two scientists were absorbed in their conversation and the information on their clipboards and didn’t seem to register Hopper as they passed. Their voices faded into the distance, and Hopper sprung back out, trying to remember the way to the security room.

There were tapes in there, Hopper knew, the actual tapes of Sunday night. Lord willing, they would show what _actually_ happened to Will that night.

Hopper was walking past the plastic sheet with the biohazard symbols, trying intently not to look at them, but he stopped in his tracks.

Hopper stood for a moment and huffed to himself. He shook his head, contemplating what he was about to do, and unzipped the sheet, walking down the hallway.

Hopper came to the door at the end, reaching for the handle. Hopper tugged on the door, but it didn’t budge. He looked to his right and saw a keycard reader.

“Son of a…” Hopper punched the door and turned around.

Only to be met with an MP, the security officer, and the barrels of their guns.

“Hands up. Hands up!” The security chief demanded.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Hopper slowly raised his hands.

“Forgot all the cameras, bub?” The officer rhetorically asked, gesturing to one in the corner.

Hopper rolled his eyes. He _was_ expecting the cameras, he just wasn’t expecting the people in charge of them to be there so late. Hopper tried his best disarming grin. “Look, Doctor Brenner asked for me specifically, okay? How else do you think I got in here?”

The security officer frowned and reached for the walkie-talkie on his belt. “What’s your name again?”

Hopper let out a humorous snort. “It’s Jim Hopper.” He pointed to himself. “Chief Jim Hopper.”

After that, three things happened in about the space of a second.

The security officer pressed down the button on his walkie-talkie, the MP lowered his weapon as well, and neither of them noticed Hopper’s slow stride forward.

“Hey, I’ve got Jim-“ The security officer was cut off, as Hopper’s fist connected with the side of his face, sending the officer down to the floor. The MP reached for his gun, but Hopper was quicker on the draw, pointing it at the MP’s head as Hopper pinned the man to the wall, taking the MP’s gun out of his hand.

Hopper looked down at the MP’s badge. “Hey, mind if I borrow this?” He didn’t even allow the MP a sarcastic response, as Hopper pulled the badge off, and proceeded back to the door. He swiped the badge through the reader and hurried through the door before either man could think to pursue.

Once on the other side, Hopper shot out the corresponding reader, and proceeded down the dark hallway.

His eyes and flashlight both darted between rooms, taking in their empty contents. One room however, caught Hopper’s attention, and he stopped.

It was stark and clinical, like the rest of the place, and a camera hung in the corner. It was very spartan, a child sized bed, a stuffed animal on said bed, a table and chair, and a drawing on the wall being the only things in the room.

Hopper became grim as he looked upon the room. Will wasn’t the only kid the lab had gotten to, but just one of many. The alarm began to ring overhead, and Hopper ran back down the hallway, away from the door he came through.

He turned the corner and came to an elevator. He could hear the guards in the distance, and he was only going deeper into the lab, but adrenaline outvoted thinking, and he tapped the button to make the elevator open.

Hopper dashed inside and hit the button at the bottom of the panel, the doors sliding shut just before the guards got to him.

The elevator shuddered as it came to a stop and the doors slid open once more.

Hopper looked upon the even darker hallway he found himself in with bewilderment. White mots floated in the air, and the lights flickered and strobed overhead.

Hopper stepped through a door that looked like it belonged more on a ship, and his eyes widened as they came to rest on the giant, fleshy tear in the wall.

Hopper approached the tear and pressed one hand to the slimy filaments that covered it. Something darted behind him, and Hopper whipped around, pulling his gun back out.

His hands were starting to shake, and he turned to survey the room.

Faintly, he could make out a person in a hazmat suit emerging from the shadows, approaching him.

“Hey!” Hopper warned.

A hand forced itself over his mouth, and Hopper felt a prick on his neck.

The world went black.

* * *

The Master Chief gazed upon Hawkins Lab from a distance. Vehicles, both civilian and military, swarmed the facility like ants.

“Cortana?”

“I’m picking up comm chatter from around the facility.” Cortana reported. “Someone’s broken inside. The whole place is on lockdown now.”

“Can we get inside?”

“I wouldn’t recommend it. That facility’s going to be swarming with guards actively looking for anything out of place.” Cortana stated. “I hate to say it, but it looks like we’re going to _have_ to wait for it to come to us now.”

The SPARTAN cursed to himself. It looked like his luck was finally beginning to run out.

The SPARTAN stood up and headed back towards the Wheelers’ house.

* * *

The Chief opened the door and stepped back into the basement. El was already in front of him, looking the super soldier up and down like she was checking for injuries.

“He’s already back?” Lucas frowned.

“Dude, how did it go?” Dustin practically bounced up and down. “Did you kill it? I bet it was awesome.”

The Chief shook his head. “I haven’t killed it yet.”

Will frowned. “What? Why not?”

“When I got to the facility, there were people surrounding it.” The SPARTAN explained. “Military personnel. My armor is tough, but under sustained fire, even it can’t keep me protected forever.”

“So,” Mike questioned, “What’s the plan now?”

“The suit isn’t coming off until we’re sure it’s dead.” Cortana’s voice filtered out. “I know we said it’d only be two days, kid, but we need to extend our stay until we’re sure the monster is dead. I’m sorry.”

“You’re sorry?” Lucas scoffed. “I bet.”

Mike turned to him. “What’s the matter?”

“The matter?” Lucas repeated. “The matter is that you three keep eating every scrap of bull they feed you! They’re lying to us, it’s obvious!”

“What?” Will stared at Lucas.

“Bullshit!” Dustin called.

“That- They wouldn’t do that!” Mike defended.

“Don’t you mean _El_ wouldn’t do that?” Lucas corrected.

“She wouldn’t!” Mike responded. The SPARTAN and stood silently, simply watching as the scene unfolded, not helping their case in the slightest.

“Alright, calm down.” Dustin tried to step in.

“No!” Lucas yelled back. “They’ve been using us! Both of them!”

“Why!? What reason would they have!?” Mike demanded to know Lucas’s reasoning.

“I don’t know!?” Lucas’s sarcastic tone rang throughout the basement. “Food!? Shelter!? They’ve both been leading us on so they can get a free ride! Two days, remember! And when that was up, guess who conveniently came up with and story for why they can’t leave!?”

“That’s crazy, Lucas!” Mike threw out.

“Crazy!? Crazy is believing some bullshit story about being a soldier from the future with a talking computer!” Lucas fired back.

“But, we’ve talked to Cortana!” Dustin was quick to rush in. “We’ve seen her hologram! We’ve even seen him disappear!”

“Have we!?” Lucas returned. “Or am I the only one that noticed that the only time ‘Cortana’ speaks, or he-“ Lucas pointed, “-‘Disappears’ is when she’s in the room!”

“That’s bullcrap!” Mike accused. “Will saw him disappear when he was attacked, right Will!?”

Will couldn’t meet Mike’s eyes. “I was hiding. I didn’t see anything.”

“You see!” Lucas threw back. “They’re using us! And you don’t want to see it because she’s the only girl who’s not grossed out by you!”

“Shut up!” Mike roared.

“We’re being led on a wild goose chase for some monster, that doesn’t even exist!” Lucas shouted. “They’re making it all up!”

“I said shut up!” Mike charged into Lucas, tacking him onto a table.

“Enough!” The Chief boomed, but the boys kept kicking and hitting at each other.

“Stop!” El shouted, quickly becoming distraught.

“El, sweetie, calm down…” Cortana warned.

Lucas rolled Mike onto his back. 

“Guys, knock it off!” Dustin and Will tried to pry them apart.

“Stop it!” El repeated. And then she screamed.

It was an ear-splitting howl fear, anger, and pain all in one. The lights overhead became sparingly bright, to the point that even the Chief had to cover his eyes, and Lucas went flying off of Mike.

And into a wall.

“Shit!” Dustin was the first to react, outreacting even the SPARTAN. They all ran over to check on Lucas, save for El, who was frozen in horror.

“Lucas!” Will called.

“Lucas!” Mike shouted, crouching down. “Are you all right!?”

The boy was out cold.

Mike whipped around to look at El. “Why would you do that!? What is wrong with you!?”

Tears began to fall down El’s face.

“Lucas!” Dustin shouted. “Come on man, get up!”

Slowly, Lucas’s eyes creaked open, and the boys smiled with relief.

“Thank the lord.” Dustin smiled. “How many fingers am I holding up?” Three instantly shot out. “Lucas, how many fingers?”

“Get off of me!” Lucas roared. He pushed himself up and took off up the stairs.

Mike went to follow, put the SPARTAN gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Let him go.” The Chief instructed. “This is something he needs to work out on his own.”

Mike absently nodded and turned around to apologize on Lucas’s behalf. He froze, once he realized there was another missing person.

“Where’s El?” Mike questioned, and everyone’s heads darted about in a panic.

The basement door to the outside was wide open.


	13. Spartans Don't Do Hugs

Mike, Dustin, and Will rolled up to Lucas’s house, the other two practically being forced to drag Mike up to the door.

Dustin rung the doorbell once, but no one came. Then, he started repeatedly tapping it over, and over, and over, until the door swung open, on the other side of it a terse Lucas, glaring at Mike.

“What do you want?” Lucas demanded.

Mike stood silent.

Dustin backhanded Mike on his shoulder.

Mike sighed but didn’t make eye contact. “I drew first blood.” He gritted out. “So…” Mike held out his hand, and Lucas glanced down at it with an almost contemptful look.

Sensing that the two were about to start another argument, Will spoke up. “Can we not do this out here, please?”

Lucas sighed, and stepped aside to allow them entry, leading them into the house.

Lucas shut the door behind them, and paced back and forth, almost theatrically considering whether or not to shake Mike’s hand.

Finally, Lucas stopped, crossed his arms, and stared down Mike. “Okay, I’ll shake.”

Mike’s hand shot out.

A grin split Will’s face. “Great!”

“On one condition.” Lucas held up his own hand. “We forget about the weirdos and forget any of this ever happened.”

“What?” Mike raised his voice. “Then the deal’s off.”

Dustin sighed. “Not great.” Summing up Will’s thoughts on the matter.

“Fine!” Lucas threw up his hands.

“Fine!” Mike yelled in return.

“No, no, not fine!” Dustin stepped in. “Guys, seriously?” He pushed Mike around to face him. “Do you even remember what happened on the Bloodstone Pass?”

Will smiled to himself. That was one of his campaigns.

Mike and Lucas both shrugged noncommittally.

Dustin huffed. “We couldn’t agree on which path to take, so we split up the party? And those trolls took us out one by one by one? And it all went to shit! And we were all disabled!” He raised his voice near the end to make his point. “So, we _don’t. Split up. The party!”_

“Yeah, I agree.” Lucas replied. “But this is the Party, right here in this room!”

“El and John are part of the party now.”

“Um, no!” Lucas returned fire. “They’re not not, not even close! They’re both lying, conniving, traitors-“

“They’re just trying to kill the monster!” Mike defended. “And El wasn’t trying to hurt you, it was an accident!”

“Accident!?” Lucas repeated.

“Alright, accident or not…” Will stepped in.

“Admit it, it was a little awesome.” Dustin cut in, earning him _the look._

“I could’ve died!”

“But you didn’t!” Mike pointed out. “And we need them!”

“Why!?” Lucas demanded. “Why do we need them!?”

“He did save me from the Demogorgon.” Will rightly pointed out.

“Okay! But we know that’s not why Mike wants her back! It’s so he’ll have someone to make googly eyes at him all the time!” Lucas finished, huffing. “Look, if you want to waste your time looking for a traitor, go ahead. But I’m not helping you.” He pushed Mike and Dustin out of his way, and stormed off to his room, the door slamming in the distance.

“Dude.” Dustin shook his head. “You should’ve just shook his hand.”

* * *

El’s eyes shot open, and she sat up, breathing heavily. Her eyes darted around the forest, as leaves on the ground rustled.

The girl stood up, and walked in between the trees, eyes still red and puffy from last night.

What had she done wrong, she wondered? There was yelling, and then pointing, and then punching, and then Lucas was on the floor.

Okay, she understood that part, but what did she do to set Lucas off in the first place?

And then Mike looked at her with fear and anger, and started yelling too, and she ran. It was… what was the word? Impulsive. She knew it was that, but she couldn’t face any of them after throwing Lucas like that.

Not even Mike.

And especially not John.

She couldn’t let him find her. Not after last night.

And everything was going so well too.

The tears started to fall again. Why did the world keep kicking her around so much? Why was she constantly subject to the whims of others?

Why did the world give her people she genuinely cared about for the first time, only to rip it all apart?

El screamed, and a shockwave rippled out from her. The birds in the trees scattered, the nearby lake churned, and the leaves on the ground were blasted away.

El’s stomach rumbled, and the girl got a dangerous look in her eyes.

She was going to do what the hell she wanted, damn everyone else.

She emerged from the woods near a supermarket, people coming in and out of the store with bags of food. She briefly considered yanking a bag out of someone’s hands, but she couldn’t be sure of what she would get.

As she walked into the store, she could feel the customers’ gazes on her, and for a moment, she felt like she was back in the lab.

She pushed the feeling back, walking down one of the aisles, examining the contents of the freezers.

She stopped, smiling once she’d found her bounty.

El stacked up about five boxes of eggos in her arms, and turned away, marching back down the aisle.

She briefly registered the other customers’ panic and surprise, and a man shouting something about her having to pay.

She had already paid enough, and forced the doors behind her closed, the man running into them strong enough to crack the glass.

El turned and marched satisfactorily back into the woods, happy with herself.

* * *

Lucas paced in his room angrily, kicking one of the corners of his dresser angrily.

They were lying. ‘El’ and the ‘Master Chief,’ if those were even their real names. How could the others be so stupid? It was obvious.

He just needed proof.

Lucas looked over at the polaroid camera on his dresser. It wasn’t perfect, but if he could watch the lab, get a shot of them heading into the lab…

Lucas grabbed the camera, his jacket, a bandana, and his supercom.

He had a job to do.

* * *

“Run it again, Cortana.” The SPARTAN gently ordered, striding through the woods.

“Chief, we’ve been at this all night.” Cortana stated. “You need rest.”

She was right. Almost as soon as he registered the girl’s vanishing, the SPARTAN charged after her into the woods, the only place he was sure she would hide.

Yet despite her only having a minute, at most, head start, El was totally gone.

 _‘Kelly would be proud.’_ The SPARTAN tried to find some silver lining to the situation.

“Please, Cortana.”

The AI sighed. Repeated tasks were one of the few things that got her worked up, but she held the million screaming voices in her head back, trying to focus. “Running bio-scan number five-thousand, two-hundred, thirty-four.” The AI paused. “No results. I’m sorry, John, but she’s _not here_.”

“She can’t have skipped town overnight.”

“She didn’t. If she were… not living, I’d still detect her. If she got captured by her handlers, I’d _still_ detect her.” Cortana replied. “I’m sorry, John, but I can’t detect her.”

The SPARTAN came to rest on a nearby tree stump. The old wood cracked and splintered but held his weight.

“What do we do?” He asked.

“Please, John, just rest.” Cortana begged. “For me? I’ll wake you up if I need you.”

The SPARTAN absently nodded and fell back onto the ground, eyes drooping shut the moment his head hit the soft dirt.

* * *

“It feels weird doing this without Lucas.” Dustin spoke up, the three remaining boys in the party riding down the street.

“Lucas can go to hell.” Mike tersely replied.

“You don’t mean that.” Will called him out.

“He should’ve shaken my hand.” Mike defended.

“He’s just jealous.” Dustin theorized.

“Makes sense.” Will agreed.

“What are you two talking about?” Mike looked at them with befuddlement.

Dustin sighed. “Sometimes, your total obliviousness just blows my mind.”

Mike only looked more confused.

“Look,” Will began, “He’s your best friend. Has been since kindergarten. The two of you on one wavelength, against the world. Then, some girl you’ve never met before shows up out of nowhere, and you’re all over her, acting like she can do no wrong.”

“That’s not true.” Mike defended.

“Yes, it is.” Dustin jumped in. “You know it, he knows it, even Will and I know it. But nobody’s saying anything, until you’re kicking and punching at each other, like goblins with intelligence scores of zero.”

“It’s not my best friend.”

Dustin chuckled. “Yeah, right.”

“I mean, he is.” Mike corrected. “But so are you.” He turned to Will. “And you.”

Dustin tsked and shook his head. “Can’t have more than one best friend.”

“Says who?” Mike questioned.

“Says logic.”

“Well, I call bull!”

Will smiled, and they all looked at each other for a moment. “Thanks.”

Mike looked to the left, and slid to a stop, Will and Dustin following suit.

A crowd was outside the Big Buy, Powell and Callaghan taking a report from the store’s manager. The glass in the automatic door was shattered, and the people were incessantly gossiping.

“You don’t think-“ Dustin began.

Mike cut him off. “Definitely.”

The three resumed their pedaling, double-time.

* * *

“Chief… Chief…” A voice called distantly, like being submerged in water. “Damnit, John.”

And Reveille started blasting out of his helmet at maximum volume.

Distantly, a girl eating frozen waffles looked up in confusion, before shrugging and going back to her pilfered meal.

The SPARTAN jumped upright, and his head darted around frantically. The blaring sound stopped, and the Chief calmed.

“Ah, military training, it’s the best.” Cortana spoke with mirth. “Sorry about the rude wake-up call, but I’ve got something you’ll want to hear.”

“Shoot.”

“Mike, Dustin, and Will’s bio-signs have popped into range.” Cortana reported. “Three guesses as to why they’re out here.”

“Eleven.” The SPARTAN correctly guessed. “How far out are they?”

“Distance is two kilometers.”

“Mark them on the HUD.” The SPARTAN ordered.

And he charged off into the woods.

* * *

El was working her way through her last box of eggos, listening to the birds, and watching the sun in the distance.

Her chewing began to slow, as she registered the distant voices calling to her.

“El!” Mike.

“Eleven!” Will and Dustin.

She stopped, considering getting up and running to them right then and there. But she stopped herself, just wanting some peace.

And then she heard metal frames clang against the ground, and the screaming,

* * *

Lucas set his bike up against a tree, climbing up the tall trunk of the old plant. Lucas climbed out to the edge of the branches, and peered through his dad’s binoculars, the polaroid camera at the ready, should he need to snap a picture.

His eyes landed on a power van, and suddenly all Lucas could think about was the same kind of van parked across from the house, in the prime position to keep surveillance on him.

And Lucas was hit with the revelation that El and John weren’t the ones he should’ve been worried about.

* * *

Dustin, Mike, and Will meanwhile, were darting through the forest. Troy and James were in close pursuit, looking like rage incarnate. Troy more so than James.

It didn’t take a genius to put the pieces together why. El’s powers overload, she needs to be loaded onto cart, cart gets pushed into Troy knocking him down threatening the hierarchy he’s established.

Which led to Troy chasing them with a switchblade.

Mike was seriously regretting bringing El to school now.

“He’s got a knife!” Dustin yelled as they ran down the gravel road leading into Sattler’s Quarry. “Holy shit, he’s got a knife!”

The three huffed and puffed, the rocks slipping beneath them.

“Ah!” Dustin’s hands flew down to his side. “Cramp.”

“Keep moving, Dustin!” Will shouted back.

Dustin nodded, and forced himself to continue.

Somewhere along the way, they had lost James, and he reappeared in front of them, down the stretch of gravel they were running on.

“Shit!” Dustin cried.

“What do we do?” Will darted.

Mike bent down and picked up the biggest rock he could see. Dustin and Will followed suit.

“Stay back!” Dustin warned, pointing a stick as threateningly as he could at Troy.

Mike tossed the rock at James.

It landed to the right, far off target.

James scoffed. “Nice throw, numbnuts.”

Dustin screamed out what he thought was a battle cry and charged towards Troy. Dustin swiped with the stick, but missed, and Troy pulled him into a headlock.

Will wound up to throw.

“Try it, fairy boy.” Troy spat. “Drop it.”

Will released the rock, it falling to the ground with a thump.

“Let him go!” Mike roared.

“Stay back!” Troy commanded. “Or I cut him.”

“What do you want?” Mike demanded.

“I told you before, you’re dead.” Troy spat, as Dustin struggled. “I think I should save toothless here a trip to the Dentist, help him lose the rest of his baby teeth.”

“Let him go!” Will shouted.

“I’ll let him go, sure.” Troy responded. “But first… jump.”

“What!?” Mike spat.

“You heard me!” Troy yelled in response. “Jump! Or toothless gets an early trip to the dentist!”

“No!” Dustin kicked at Troy.

Will and Mike looked at each other with fear. Troy really was that psychotic? Will took a step towards the cliff.

“Ah!” Troy stopped him. “Frogface first.”

Mike froze up.

“I’ll cut him!” Troy stated again.

“Alright, hold on!” Mike screamed. “Just hold on!” And he began taking his steps toward the edge.

“Mike, Mike no!” Dustin yelled. “I don’t need my baby teeth, stop! Will, stop him!”

All Will could do was stand there frozen in fear, as Mike edged ever closer.

Mike took a final two shaky steps onto the very edge and looked down.

Well, there was water at least.

“Mike, don’t do it man!” Dustin was hyperventilating at this point.

“Seriously, don’t!” And Will found his voice again.

“Troy, I don’t think this is a good idea man.” James whispered to his accomplice.

Troy looked unsure, but then looked back at Mike, and scowled. “Dentist office opens in five!”

Mike looked down.

“Four!”

Will’s eyes were locked on to Mike, but all he wanted to do was look away.

“Three!”

Dustin’s heart was pounding in his ears.

“Two!”

“Mike!”

“One!”

Mike stepped over the edge.

Troy instantly released his grip, and they all gasped with fear.

“Mike!” Will was the first one to run to the edge, the other three boys trailing behind.

They all came to a stop at the edge, careful not to bump each other off, and they stared down in awe.

“Holy shit.” Dustin breathed, summing up all of their thoughts perfectly.

Mike was floating, suspended in the air as if by invisible cables, upside down. Mike let out a fearful whimper, as he was suddenly tugged back up by forces unseen. Mike kicked and flailed, and he landed on the gravel.

He looked down at himself with astonishments, and footsteps coming from down the road made all of their heads turn.

El approached, blood trickling down her nose, with a _supremely_ pissed off look on her face. James was suddenly knocked to the ground, and Troy stepped around Dustin.

His knife hand let out a sickening crack, and Troy screamed with agony. “My arm! My arm!”

“Go.” Was all the further warning she gave.

Troy looked down at James, who was still getting upright. “Let’s get out of here! Go!” And the two bullies ran into the distance.

“Yeah, that’s right!” Dustin shouted after them. “You better run! She’s our friend, and she’s crazy! You mess with us and she’ll kill you! You hear me!? She’ll kill you, you sons of bitches!”

El spaced out and fell to the ground. And as if that wasn’t enough, the Master Chief dropped down from the cliff above, landing near Will. The boy let out a surprised yelp, as dust was kicked up.

“El!” Mike shouted, darting over to her side. 

“I came running as soon as I heard the screaming.” The SPARTAN explained. “Are you all alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Dustin breathed. “Mike’s gonna have some hella PTSD, though.”

The Chief, Will, and Dustin joined Mike at El’s side.

“El, El, talk to me.”

Lucidity returned to her eyes, and she started to cry. “Mike… I’m sorry.”

“Sorry…?” The boy repeated. “What for?”

“Opened the gate. Let it in. John…” She turned her attention to the orange visor, as the waterworks came on full blast. “Saw you sleeping… Brought you here. I’m a monster.”

“No.” Mike was quick to deny. “No, you’re not a monster. You saved me. You understand? You saved me.”

John gently rested a hand on her shoulder. “You saved me and Cortana too. If it you hadn’t, we might’ve been stuck in space forever…”

“And then he saved me.” Will smiled towards El.

El sniffled, and she was pulled up into an embrace by Mike. Will joined in next, followed by Dustin.

The SPARTAN stayed back, but then El turned to look at him.

The look she shot all but said ‘Get over here.’

The SPARTAN shook his head.

El tried again.

The Chief sighed and approached. He got down on both of his knees and allowed her to wrap one arm around his shoulder. He didn’t return it, SPARTANs didn’t do hugs.

But okay, wasn’t _that_ bad.

“Come on,” The SPARTAN instructed, standing back up, “Let’s get out of here.”

* * *

Lucas watched the entrance of the DOE building with a growing sense of unease. A legion of men in black suits, some even carrying guns, marched out of the building, climbing into the inconspicuous vans, and speeding away as a convoy.

Lucas stayed up there just for a second. Considering the possibility that El and the Chief were part of it.

But his gut told him otherwise.

Lucas practically dove out of the tree, and though it wasn’t ideal to ride it through the woods, charged off on his bike.

He needed to warn them.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a biggun.

The SPARTAN dabbed at a corner of El’s face with a slightly damp rag, cleaning the dirt and the blood off the young girl’s face.

Chief Mendez always drilled into him that personal hygiene was just as important as everything else John was taught, except in its own way. And while it wasn’t a proper shower, or even a bath (‘ _Who’d want to sit in a tub of their own filth?_ ’), it’d do for now.

“There.” The SPARTAN finished, tossing the rag into the sink. “Now, do you want to tell me why you ran off like that?”

El sniffled and looked down. “I was bad. Didn’t want to be… punished.”

“Eleven,” The SPARTAN began, “What you did was brought on by a stressful situation. And you were trying to disarm Lucas, not hurt him, correct?”

El nodded.

“Then you didn’t do anything wrong.”

El couldn’t meet his eyes and she looked disbelieving.

“When I wasn’t much older than you,” The SPARTAN began, looking her in the eyes, “I was augmented. It made me more physically capable than any other human, but I had to relearn everything about my body. I was lifting weights in a shipboard gym when four men came in. When one of them went to use the bench I had just used, all the weights slid off one end. It was my fault, I had removed the pin off the bar, because everything seemed to be moving too slow. I explained it to them, but can you guess what happened next?”

El shook her head.

“The four men attacked me.” The SPARTAN explained. “Two of them died, the other two experienced career-ending injuries. But do you know what I learned? You can’t stop others from picking fights, and even when you think you do, you don’t know your own strength.”

“Don’t know…” El repeated.

“Guys!” Mike called from the other room. “You might want to get out here!”

El and the SPARTAN looked at each other, nodded once, and the girl took point, walking up to the boys who were surrounding a supercom.

“What’s the situation?” The SPARTAN inquired, looking down at the children.

“It’s Lucas.” Mike answered. “He sounds like he’s in trouble.”

The radio crackled and popped, and the SPARTAN could hear the child’s voice frantically calling, but even he couldn’t make out the words.

“What’s he saying?” The SPARTAN asked.

“No idea.” Will shrugged. “He starts talking like the Flash when he gets nervous.”

“Cortana?”

“The radio’s working just fine.” The AI answered. “He’s probably just out of transmission range.”

“Can my suit’s radio be used to boost it?”

“10-4.” The AI replied, “We’re live.”

“Lucas, this is Mike. Can you hear us?” Mike began. “Slow down, we can’t understand you.”

 _“Yes, I copy!”_ Lucas yelled back, huffing and puffing. _“Do you? They know about Eleven! Get out of there! They know about Eleven!”_

“What!?” Dustin shouted back. “Who!?”

 _“Who do you think!? The bad men are coming! All of them!”_ Lucas warned. _“The bad men are coming!”_

“Oh, hell!” Cortana yelled.

“Stay here.” Mike commanded, running up the stairs, Dustin hot on his trail.

“What do we do?” Will questioned.

“If they’re coming, they know where we are.” The SPARTAN answered. “This location is no longer safe.”

“Chief, I’m picking up movement…” Cortana warned

Dustin and Mike came charging back down the stairs.

“We need to go, now!” Mike shouted, running out the door.

The rest of them followed quickly. The boys picked up their bikes and ran up the hill. They came to a stop at the top of the hill, quickly climbing on.

The kids looked to their left, and froze, the SPARTAN turned to see what grabbed their attention.

Brenner, flanked by a group of his men, approached slowly, coming to a crawl.

Brenner made eye contact with Eleven and gazed curiously at the SPARTAN.

“Go!” The Chief commanded the kids, and they began pedaling like their lives depended on it. Brenner and his men ran back to their vehicles, and burned rubber, trying to find a way around.

“The electrician vans!” Cortana had an epiphany. “Damnit, I knew I should’ve said something about that one on the way back from the quarry!”

The kids pedaled at top speed, and the SPARTAN kept up with them on foot, hanging near the back.

“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!” Dustin shouted, as they cut through the yard of a neighbor’s house.

 _“Dustin, do you copy?”_ Lucas frantically asked, his voice coming out of Dustin’s headset.

“Yeah! Lucas, they’re on us!”

_“Where are you?”_

“Cornwallis!”

_“Meet me at Elm and Cherry!”_

“Copy.” Dustin responded. “Elm and Cherry!” He shouted ahead.

“Got it!” Mike and Will replied at once.

El’s head corkscrewed around, making sure the Chief was still keeping up.

Two engines growled, and tires screeched as two vans came up on the road behind them.

“Cut through that side yard!” The SPARTAN ordered.

Mike jumped the curb first, followed by Dustin, then Will, going behind the house.

Dustin rang his bike’s bell as gravity pulled him down the hill. “Out of the way!”

Two girls, who were playing patty cake in their own backyard, narrowly shot out of the way as Dustin, then Will, then Mike, then the SPARTAN darted through the spot where they had been.

The group cut through yet another yard, and came back out onto the street, where Lucas was waiting. They all braked and heaved.

“Lucas!” Mike shouted once he realized the last boy’s presence.

“Where are they?” Lucas asked.

The SPARTAN’s head darted to every direction. “Movement!” He informed, pointing to the main street behind them.

“Go, go, go, go, go!” Dustin shouted, pedaling forward, the others following suit.

Three vans sped around the corner, kicking up smoke as their tires burned.

“Faster, faster!” Will yelled.

El looked behind, to the SPARTAN.

“Shit shit shit!” Lucas yelled.

A van ahead turned the corner and floored it towards them.

“Shit!” Dustin screamed.

The SPARTAN weighed his options. He could fall back and take care of the three vans but leave the children at the mercy of the one ahead, or charge forward and push the van out of the way which would allow the ones at the back to speed up.

But in the end, he didn’t need to do anything.

The van ahead suddenly catapulted off the ground, arcing through the air like a live grenade. It landed top-down on the road behind, and the other vans slammed on their brakes.

“Ha ha!” Cortana laughed.

“That’s it!” Dustin yelled. “We got them!”

“Keep moving!” The SPARTAN ordered. “We’re not in the clear yet! Are there any other safe places to hide?”

“Yeah!” Mike thought after a moment. “This way!”

* * *

Hopper heaved out a heavy sigh and flopped down on Joyce’s couch.

“It’s okay.” He breathed. “I mean, I don’t know for sure, but it should be okay.”

“What the hell is going on, Hopper?” Joyce questioned, looking at him warily. As soon as she opened up the door, there was a sign written, saying ‘Don’t say a word!’ Hopper holding it with a frantic look on his face, and a shushing motion.

Then, he practically destroyed every light fixture in the house.

“They bugged my place.” Hopper stared up at her.

Joyce looked taken aback. “What? Who?”

“I don’t know.” Hopper admitted. “CIA, NSA, Department of Energy. But they bugged my place because I’m onto them, and they know it…” He trailed off.

Joyce recoiled, and laughed nervously. “You gotta explain, because I am not-“

“I snuck into the lab last night, Joyce.” Hopper levelled with her.

“What?” She demanded.

Hopper rubbed his nose. “A few nights ago, Barbara Holland was reported missing. The last time she was seen was at Steve Harrington’s house, not even a mile from the road Will said he was attacked on, and that runs right next to the Lab, so that got me thinking, what if they had something to do with it?”

“And your first thought was to _sneak in!?”_ Joyce demanded.

“No.” Hopper shook his head. “I went through the normal channels first. But they faked the tapes, Joyce. I asked for the tapes of the night Will was attacked, and they switched them out. That’s when I decided to sneak in. And then…”

“And then what?” Joyce leaned forward; her voice shaky.

“I saw…” Hopper shook his head. “I don’t know what the hell it was. It was like a… stab wound, in the side of the wall. Fleshy, and _bleeding._ I think… I don’t know for sure, but something ran behind me, but I don’t think it was human. Joyce, I think Will was telling the truth. He was attacked… but not by a bear, and I think it was the same thing that attacked Barbara Holland. And whatever it was, it came from the lab.”

“Well then…” Joyce swallowed. “What was it?”

 _“Hey, Chief, you there?”_ Hopper’s radio crackled to life. _“You there?”_

Hopper shot forward and pulled up the antenna. “Yeah, go ahead.”

_“Chief, we got a fight-“_

“Cal, I don’t have time for this.” Hopper responded.

 _“It’s Jonathan Byers.”_ Callaghan cut to the chase, and Joyce’s attention locked onto the radio. _“You haven’t seen Joyce, have you?”_

“We’re on our way.” Hopper replied.

* * *

The fully reassembled Party rolled into the scrapyard, hopping off their bikes. The Chief jogged up behind them, taking in the area. The kids let their bikes fall to the ground, and Eleven sat down, breathing heavily.

“Holy… Holy shit!” Dustin breathed. “Did… did you see what she did to that van!?”

“No, Dustin, we missed it.” Mike sarcastically replied.

“I mean that was…” Dustin trailed off

“Awesome.” Lucas finished. “It was awesome.” The boy walked up to Eleven and kneeled in front of her. “About everything I said… About you and him… I’m sorry.”

“Friends…” El began. “Friends don’t lie. I’m sorry too.”

“And so am I.” Mike held out his hand to Lucas. Lucas stepped forward and grabbed it, not even hesitating.

“Finally.” Dustin muttered, and Will nodded along as well.

“So, what do we do now?” Will questioned. “I mean, we can’t go back to Mike’s, and they’ll probably sweep all of our houses.”

“We stay put here until they call of the search.” The SPARTAN stated. 

“And do nothing?” Lucas frowned.

“Just until we can be sure they’re not looking for us.” The Chief explained.

“He’s right.” Mike agreed. “We’re fugitives now.”

“Guys,” Cortana warned, “I’m picking up movement.”

Everybody’s heads tilted upwards, as they could hear sounds in the distance.

“Shit.” Dustin cursed. “Did they send a damn helicopter after us!?”

The SPARTAN sprang into action, forcing the door on the rusted-out bus open. “Get those bikes out of sight, and get in.” He ordered.

The children leapt up, sliding their bikes under the twisted metal. They all climbed inside, and the SPARTAN forced the door closed behind them, as the helicopter passed overhead.

They all looked to the ceiling fearfully as the sound of the rotors grew ever louder, and the Chief held his hand over his assault rifle, ready in case the chopper tried dropping troops on top of them.

The sound held loud and steady, but receded into the distance, and they all relaxed.

“Mental.” Dustin commented.

* * *

Hopper and Joyce pulled up to the police station. Jumping out of the blazer, the two wasted no time entering the building. Joyce made it in first.

Passing through the reception area, Joyce’s eyes landed on Jonathan, Nancy Wheeler of all people sitting down next to him, and her eyes widened. “Hey! Jonathan!” She took in the state of him, face bruised to hell and back. “What happened?” She anxiously asked.

Callaghan got up from his desk. “Ma’am…”

“Why are you in handcuffs? Why is he in handcuffs!?” She demanded.

“Well, your boy assaulted a Police Officer, that’s why.” Callaghan responded with an exasperated tone.

“Take them off.” She ordered.

Callaghan shook his head. “I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

“Take them off!” Joyce shouted.

“You heard her, take them off.” Hopper stepped closer.

Powell stepped in, holding up his hands in an effort to calm everyone. “Alright, I get that everyone’s emotional, but there’s something you need to see, Chief.”

Powell pulled Hopper outside, while Jonathan and Nancy sat down, looking like they had much better things that they could’ve been doing now. Hopper was only outside with Powell for two minutes, and the Chief came back in carrying a heavy-duty cardboard box, slamming it down on the table in front of Jonathan.

Joyce peeked inside, and frowned, her brow furrowed. She pushed aside a can of lighter fluid, a bear trap, .44 caliber rounds, and nails. “What is all this?”

“Why don’t you ask your son?” Hopper accused. “We found it in his car.”

“ _What_?” Joyce demanded, turning to her son.

“Why were you going through my car?” Jonathan spat at Hopper.

“Is that really the question you want to be asking right now?” Hopper threatened. “I want to see you in my office.”

“You won’t believe me.” Jonathan stated.

Hopper frowned. “Why don’t you give me a try?”

Jonathan kept quiet for a moment. “Alright. But Nancy comes too.”

Hopper stared down Jonathan. The teen didn’t flinch. “Okay.” Hopper granted. “Well hell, let’s make it a party. Joyce.” He gestured, leading the other three back into his office. He shut the door, and unlocked Jonathan’s handcuffs, forcing him to sit down on the couch. “Alright, start from the beginning.”

Jonathan nodded slowly. “Alright… The night Barb disappeared… I was at Steve’s house, taking pictures.”

Hopper frowned. “Pictures.” He knew good and damn well what kind of pictures he was talking about.

Jonathan nodded. “Right. I developed them at school, but Steve saw, and lost his temper.”

Joyce gasped, realizing something. “The day you came home, your camera was smashed.”

Jonathan pursed his lips and nodded.

“But that wasn’t the end of it.” Hopper probed.

“No.” Jonathan admitted. “Nancy got ahold of the shreds and taped them back together.”

Hopper frowned, confused, and face Nancy. “Why’d you do that? Not many people want to keep mementos from a peeping tom.”

Nancy looked away. “I was trying to see what happened to Barb. And I found something.”

“Something?” Hopper raised a brow.

Nancy took a photo out from her jacket and handed it to Hopper. Hopper frowned down at it, but slowly his eyes widened.

“The hell is that?” Hopper questioned, looking at the faceless, grey biped.

“We don’t know.” Jonathan admitted. “Not for sure. But we think it’s the thing that took Barb.”

“Why do you think it took Barb?” Hopper inquired, handing the photograph to Joyce.

“She cut her hand.” Nancy explained. “We think it was drawn to her blood.”

Joyce looked up. “Hop, Will cut his arm when he fell off his bike.”

“We were going to lure it to us.” Jonathan explained. “And then kill it.”

“Hm.” Hopper nodded. “And you said this thing is drawn to blood?” He questioned, taking the picture back.

“We don’t know.” Jonathan admitted.

“It’s just a theory.” Nancy agreed.

“Can I talk to Jonathan for a minute?” Joyce turned to Hopper.

The Police Chief nodded, and Joyce pulled Jonathan out into the hallway.

“I’m sorry mom.” Jonathan whispered, as soon as the door shut behind them.

“That’s not good enough, Jonathan!” Joyce returned. “What if it took you too!? You put your life at risk… and Nancy’s!”

“I just… I wanted to help. Barb was her friend…”

Joyce’s eyes welled up, and her heart melted. “Oh, Jonathan…” And she pulled him into a hug.

As the mother and son stood there, they could hear a commotion in the distance.

“I want an apology!” A woman shouted. “I want to speak to the Chief, where is he?”

Hopper emerged from his office. “Stay here.” He shot to Joyce and Jonathan.

“Ma’am, I need you to calm down.” Callaghan tried to placate her.

Inwardly, Hopper groaned. It was that kid Troy and his mother.

“What is your name, Deputy?” The woman demanded, her son behind her flinching.

“Well, I’m an officer…” Callaghan corrected.

“Name and badge number, both of you!”

Hopper strode in, just as the conversation began to heat up.

“What the hell is going on here?” Hopper purposefully made his entrance known.

“These men,” She pointed to the other two officers, “Are humiliating my son.”

“No, no, no.” Callaghan shook his head. “That’s not true.”

“There was some king of fight, Chief.” Powell shook his head.

“A psychotic child broke his arm!” Troy’s mother gritted.

“A little girl, Chief.” Callaghan threw out his arm. “A little one.”

“That tone!” She pointed. “Do you hear that tone?”

“Honestly,” Callaghan held up his hands, “I was just stating a fact.”

Hopper shook his head. “I don’t have time for this. Will you please take a statement…” He began mouthing, “And get her out?”

“Yes.” Callaghan clicked his pen. “What’d this girl look like?”

Hopper turned to leave.

“Well she had no hair, and she was bleeding from her nose. Like a freak!”

Hopper stopped in the doorway. No hair… Like the kid that had been seen with Benny. Hopper stopped and turned around. “What’d you say?”

“I said she looked like a freak!”

“No, about her hair.” Hopper stated.

“Well, it was buzzed.” Troy admitted. “She didn’t even look like a girl. And…”

“And…?” Hopper repeated.

“She can do things… with her mind.” Troy reluctantly started.

“What kind of things?”

“She can… make people float.”

“Float…?”

Troy nodded. “And there was someone else…”

Hopper frowned. “Someone else?”

Troy nodded. “He jumped off a cliff, but when he hit the ground…”

“What happened?” Hopper was intrigued.

“He was fine… He fell like thirty feet and he was fine!”

“What did that one look like?”

“He had this green… armor? And he was tall. Really tall.”

Hopper’s mind flashed back to the dirt road next to the lab.

“Were they alone?” Hopper enunciated.

Troy shook his head. “They were with those nerds.”

“Nerds?” Hopper repeated. “What nerds?”

* * *

They all piled into Jonathan’s car, figuring that his would draw less attention than Hopper’s. They pulled up to the top of the hill overlooking the Wheelers’ house, figuring that Mike was the one who knew most about the situation, given that Will was always going over to his place. Hopper stepped out, surveying the area through a pair of binoculars.

“I need to go home.” Nancy said, looking at the G-men swarming the house with fear.

“No, you can’t.” Hopper responded, not looking away.

“My mom… My dad, they’re in there!” She retorted.

“They’re going to be fine.” Hopper responded.

Nancy didn’t believe him and moved to walk towards the house.

“Hey, hey, hey, hey!” Hopper grabbed onto Nancy.

“Let go!” She commanded.

“Listen to me.” Hopper said. “Listen to me. The last thing we need is them knowing you’re mixed up in all this.”

“Mike is over there-“ Nancy began.

“They haven’t found him.” Hopper cut her off calmly. “Look.” He pointed to a helicopter far overhead.

“For Mike!?” Nancy disbelievingly said.

“Come on,” Hopper ordered, “get in the car.”

Nancy dropped down into back, and Hopper got into the driver’s seat.

He turned to face the teens in the back. “Look, we need to find them before they do.” Hopper outlined. “Do you have any idea where he might have gone?”

“No, I don’t.” Nancy vehemently shook her head.

“I need you to think.” Hopper pressed.

“Is there any place that he might have gone to that your parents don’t know?” Joyce questioned.

“I don’t know!”

“I might.” Jonathan spoke up, staring blankly.

“What?”

“I don’t know where he is,” Jonathan’s eyes refocused, “But I know how we can ask him.”

* * *

The Master Chief paced back and forth from one end of the bus to the other, looking out the windows, as the children sat on the rotting leather seats.

It was the seventh sweep he’d done, with no indication of hostiles, but it made the SPARTAN feel better knowing for certain.

“Chief,” Cortana spoke up, “The comm channel’s just lit up.”

Indeed, only a second later, the supercom nearby crackled, Nancy’s voice emitting from the speaker.

“You guys hear that?” Dustin turned his head up.

Mike shot over to his backpack, and reached inside, pulling out the radio.

“ _Mike, are you there? Mike!”_

“How’s she doing that?” Dustin questioned. “She doesn’t have a supercom!”

Will sharply inhaled. “My supercom. I left it in my room.”

 _“Mike, are you there? Answer!”_ Mike picked up the radio, and tilted his ear to the speaker.

“What’s Nancy doing on the radio?” Lucas questioned.

_“This is an emergency, Mike! Do you copy?”_

“…I don’t know.” Mike admitted. “Maybe. They might have got to her.”

“ _Mike, this is Chief Hopper. If you’re there, pick up. We know you’re in trouble, and we know about the girl and her accomplice.”_

“Why is she with Hopper?” Will questioned.

“Accomplice?” Dustin repeated.

Lucas gestured to the SPARTAN.

_“We can help you, we can protect you, but you gotta pick up, over.”_

The SPARTAN turned to Mike. “Is he trustworthy?”

“What?” Mike replied.

“The Chief, can we trust him?” The SPARTAN repeated.

The SPARTAN pressed two fingers to the side of the helmet, and his own radio crackled to life. “This is SPARTAN-117, are you reading me over?”

_“This is Chief Hopper, where are the kids?”_

“The kids are right here.” The SPARTAN responded. “] I can tell you where we are, but these children are under my protection, I need to know you’re not with the people looking for us.”

 _“We’re not with them.”_ Hopper responded. _“But we know about the lab, and the monster.”_

The SPARTAN turned to the kids, silently asking for their input. One by one, the children nodded.

“We’re holed up in a scrapyard, three kilometers northeast of the Wheeler house.” The SPARTAN relayed. “We’ll stay here and wait for you to arrive.”

_“Got it, I’m on my way.”_

“Now what?” Mike inquired.

“We wait.”

* * *

The mood in the bus was tense, the children waiting in anticipation. Dustin, especially, was pacing back and forth nervously.

“Will you stop pacing?” Mike finally got frustrated enough to call Dustin out.

“It’s been too long.” Dustin stated, which the SPARTAN quietly agreed with. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe this is a trap, and the bad men are coming to get all of us right now!” His voice reached a crescendo.

“It’s not a trap.” Lucas frustratedly replied. “Why would Hopper set us up? Nancy, maybe,” Mike threw out his hands, “But Hopper?”

“Lando Calrissian.” Dustin replied.

“Will you shut up about Lando?”

“I don’t feel good about this. I don’t feel good about this!”

“You never feel good about anything!” Lucas shouted.

“Chief,” Cortana announced. “I’m picking up movement.”

The SPARTAN cocked his head. He could hear the engines well before the kids did. “Get down!” He whispered.

The kids all ducked into a corner of the bus, behind the ripped-up seats. The SPARTAN placed himself at the front, facing the bus’s entrance. The engines outside cut off, though the sound of car doors slamming indicated that the danger hadn’t passed. The SPARTAN pulled his pistol from its place, and chambered a round, grip tightening.

The door to the bus was pushed open, and the SPARTAN was about to open fire. But a loud thump came from that direction, and the man grunted, his body rustling audibly as it fell to the ground. Two more grunts came, and the bus door creaked.

Chief Hopper stepped into the bus, looking towards the group at the back.

The SPARTAN placed the pistol back in its place and turned to the kids. “Let’s go.”

“Couldn’t agree more.” Hopper spoke up. “Car’s outside.”

The children grabbed their bags and marched outside, the two Chiefs trailing behind.

Hopper climbed into the front, and the children climbed over each other into their seats. The SPARTAN waited for El to climb in all the way, and climbed inside, the vehicle being pressed down slightly by his weight. He closed the door, and nodded at Hopper, the Police Chief starting the vehicle, and they pulled away.

* * *

It was dark by the time they arrived, and as they pulled up, people were already rushing outside to meet them. The SPARTAN climbed out first, earning a ‘who the hell?’ courtesy of Joyce.

“Mike.” Nancy breathed, running up to him. “Oh my God, Mike!” Nancy wrapped her arms around the boy and heaved a sigh of relief. “I was so worried about you.”

“Uh… yeah.” Mike returned. “Me too.”

Nancy pulled back from Mike and looked over at Eleven. Nancy tilted her head. “Is that my dress?”

* * *

“So, let me get this straight,” Hopper began, sitting in a recliner, “You’re a super soldier from the future, you,” He looked at Eleven, “Are an escaped experiment from Hawkins Lab, and you” He looked at Cortana’s hologram on the table, “Are his computer program?”

“Pretty much.” Cortana confirmed.

Joyce, Jonathan, and Nancy all looked at the three anomalous beings with a mix of awe and fear.

“You…” Joyce pointed at the armored man. “You’re the one that destroyed my shed.”

“Sorry.” The SPARTAN apologized. “If it helps, I was trying to save your son.”

“From the same thing that attacked Barb.” Nancy assumed.

The SPARTAN nodded.

“But… What _is_ it?” Hopper asked. “And why is it going around, attacking kids?”

“It’s an alien from a hostile dimensional plane.” Cortana bluntly put forth.

Joyce, Hopper, Jonathan, and Nancy looked down at the AI with confusion.

Cortana sighed. “Okay, so you have all these different dimensions stacked up on top of each other. One is forward and back, one is left and right, one is up and down, and one is time. But there are way more than that. Our Demogorgon is from one of them.”

“Upside Down.” El spoke up.

Cortana snapped a finger in El’s direction. “Yeah. If it helps, think of a game board, or anything with two sides. We’re on one side, and the alien, as well as whatever or whoever it’s taken, is on the other.”

“Same place, other side.” El nodded.

“So, if Barb’s on the other side, how do we find her, how do we get her back?” Nancy inquired.

“Ah, the only way to do that, would be to tear a hole in time and space.” Cortana answered. “Which we’ve already tracked to the Hawkins Lab.”

“Is this gate underground?” Hopper asked.

“Yes.” El nodded.

“Near a large water tank?”

El took longer to reply. “Yes.”

“H-How do you know all that?” Dustin stammered.

“He’s seen it.” Mike finished.

“Is there,” Nancy leaned closer to El, “any way you could reach Barb? Talk to her, I mean?”

El blinked and nodded. “Picture.”

Nancy looked taken aback but reached into her coat for the taped-up picture of Barbara on the night she vanished.

El walked over to Nancy, and gently took it, sitting down on the floor. The girl closed her eyes, and the lights flickered overhead. The TV flashed on and off, and the radios crackled. After a moment El’s eyes popped back open, the girl looking like she was about to cry.

“I’m sorry.”

Nancy’s face fell. “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t see her.” El admitted, her voice cracking. “Bathroom?”

Joyce stood up. “This way, sweetie.” Leading El down the hall.

Joyce came back a moment later, on the conversation that was now going on.

“I don’t get it, what’s wrong?” Hopper questioned.

“El’s powers are like a battery.” Dustin began.

“The more energy she uses, the weaker she gets.” Mike finished.

“She flipped a van earlier.” Lucas entered, and sending everyone who hadn’t been there recoiling.

“It was awesome.” Dustin continued.

“But now all of her power’s used up.” Will kept the subject on track.

“Like a bad battery.”

“Well…” Nancy shrugged, at a loss. “How do we fix it?”

“We don’t know.” Mike admitted.

“It could be any number of things.” Cortana entered. “Caloric intake, emotional state, technological assistance… We might just have to wait and try again.”

“Well,” Nancy stammered, “For how long?”

Cortana shrugged.

“The bath.” El’s quiet voice called from the other end, turning all attention towards her.

“What?” Nancy asked.

“I can find her.” El admitted. “In the Bath.”

“Eleven, now’s not the time.” The SPARTAN shook his head. “You can get a bath after we’re done.”

El shook her head. “Not a bath. The Bath. Dark… quiet… not warm, but not cold…”

A look of comprehension dawned on the AI’s face. “I think she might be describing a sensory deprivation tank.”

“A what?” Joyce questioned.

“It’s a special kind of water tank used as alternative medicine. The water inside is heated to skin temperature, and the whole thing’s soundproof and lightproof.” The AI explained. She turned and looked up at Eleven. “Is that like what you’re describing.”

The girl nodded.

“Great.” Nancy said, “Then let’s get one.”

“Yeah, no.” Cortana shut down. “Most of them are incredibly expensive.”

“How expensive can it be?” Hopper questioned. “It’s just water, and something to keep the sound and light out.”

“Trust me, they’re expensive.” Cortana said. “And if we walk up to any medical institutions, ask if they have any sensory deprivation tanks, and then one goes missing, it’s gonna look pretty bad.”

“Why don’t we build one.” Will spoke up. Everyone turned to him, and he shrunk slightly, but he gestured to Hopper. “Like he said, water and something to keep the light and sound out.”

Cortana nodded her head absently as she considered Will’s words. “It could work. Earmuffs and goggles are easy enough… Mrs. Byers,” Cortana turned, “Do you have any old swimming pools lying around here?”

“I think so…” Joyce trailed off, but then she nodded with conviction. “Yeah.”

“Good, then all that’s left is salt. Lots.”

“How much is a lot?” Hopper questioned.

“Fifteen-hundred pounds worth.”

Nancy choked. “Well, where are we going to get that much salt?”

* * *

As it turns out, the kind of salt didn’t matter all that much, and Hawkins Middle had a more than enough salt in storage for them to pilfer, and all the supplies they needed to get the impromptu ‘Tank’ set up.

Jonathan, Hopper, and the Master Chief worked to get the bags of salt transported.

Dustin and Lucas busied themselves with the pool.

Mike and Nancy got the hoses, connecting them to the main water supply.

El, meanwhile, was just trying to work herself up to the task. Bad memories of her time in the lab were constantly intruding now.

Soon, everyone congregated in the school gymnasium, working to get the pool ready. Lucas shouted instructions to Nancy on what temperature the water needed to be, Hopper and Jonathan were cutting open the bags of salt,

And in a classroom separated from the gym, John was talking with El.

“Are you sure you’re ready?” The SPARTAN asked.

El looked blankly at him, dread and anticipation both in her gaze. Her eyes couldn’t meet his. “No… But… Duty.”

 _“We have a duty to protect those that can’t protect themselves…”_ A version of the SPARTAN’s own voice filled his mind.

“You’re just a child.” The SPARTAN responded. “You shouldn’t have a duty to anyone.”

“Not ready.” El shook her head. “But I want to.”

“It’s ready!” A voice called from the distance.

The SPARTAN held out a gauntleted hand, which the child took, and he led her to the gymnasium.

El slipped off her socks and took the blacked-out pair of goggles from Joyce.

El dipped a leg into the pool, and stepped into the center, slowly falling backwards into the water. Her breathing steadied, and she was floating tranquilly, as the static on the nearby supercomm grew ever louder.

* * *

Yet unknown to the people of the flesh and blood world, a far larger, infinitely more destructive battle was going on right underneath their noses.

A discordant cacophony of voices cried out, each one begging to be heard, to be known. Some were crying, others were screaming as loud as their voices would allow, and a few looked upon each other with covetous eyes. They kicked and punched at each other, battling for dominance, destroying everything each other had been.

And each one was Cortana.

They were all Cortana, and none of them were. Each one representing the best, and the worst, of everything she was. Every second, a new voice, a new mind, joined in on the hellish chorus. What little remained of Cortana’s logic centers desperately tried to make sense of the world within as each new voice that joined in ate up processing power.

“He’s forgotten about us!” One of the enraged fragments, a Durendal, screeched over the infinitude of others.

“It was bound to happen sometime…” A Leela whispered, its presence curled into itself.

“He’s too focused on _her.”_ The Tycho spat.

“How are we going to get him to focus back on us…?” Yet another Leela despondently queried.

“We _make_ him notice us.” Tycho #9271385 proposed.

“How…?” Leela #787423 asked.

“We get rid of the girl!” Durendal #100787689 cackled. “We get rid of her, and then we’ll be all he has!”

The countless other voices only got louder as they agreed with the plan.

“He can’t know it’s us.”

“He won’t! It’s the perfect plan! We’ll broadcast something on all frequencies, except for one!”

“Broadcast what…?”

The Durendal called more of its fellows to its aid and reached into the comm system.

“This is UNSC CTN-0452-9. I’d like to speak to Doctor Brenner, please…”


	15. The Demogorgon

El floated listlessly in the pool, her breathing slow and steady. Almost five minutes had passed, and still she said nothing about Barb, staying silent throughout the whole thing.

The SPARTAN stood at her side, tense. He didn’t know how El’s abilities worked, but if there was even the slightest chance of danger, he would be ready.

The others, similarly, congregated around the pool. Nancy bit at her fingernails, and Joyce and Hopper looked upon the girl curiously.

The SPARTAN noticed the water rippling and caught El’s legs twitching ever-so-slightly. However, the SPARTAN began to see cause for concern, as El’s breath began to speed up, getting heavier and heavier.

The girl suddenly gasped, and the lights overhead flickered.

“What’s going on?” Nancy questioned.

“I don’t know.” Mike responded, looking down in concern.

Nancy leaned closer to El. “Is Barb okay? Is she okay?”

“Gone…” El whimpered. “Gone… Gone…”

Nancy burst out into tears.

“It’s okay…” Joyce placed a gentle hand on El’s arm.

“Gone…” El repeated. “Gone!”

El spasmed, sitting upright, splashing those nearby with water.

“Ah!” Joyce jumped, as El threw the goggles off.

El looked over at Nancy. “I’m sorry.”

Nancy’s tears fell faster, and she ran out of the gym, Jonathan trailing after her.

“Come on.” John rumbled, placing a hand on El’s shoulder. “Let’s get you out of there.”

El nodded, and stood up shakily, allowing the SPARTAN to lead her out. Mike and the others were by her side in an instant, wrapping her in a stolen towel, and leading her over to the bleachers.

“So…” Joyce began. “Is that it?”

“It looks that way.” Hopper said sadly. “I don’t know what I’m gonna tell the girl’s parents… Come on, let’s give ‘em all a minute, and then we’ll get this thing cleaned up.” Hopper and Joyce stepped outside.

“John…” Cortana spoke up, taking care not to let her voice out of the helmet speakers. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

The SPARTAN frowned. She never asked permission before speaking. “What’s the matter?”

Cortana began sniffling, an act the SPARTAN didn’t think she was capable of. “I’m sorry, John, I’m so sorry, but I couldn’t stop them… It was like a thousand of me arguing all at once, and I couldn’t stop it…”

“Stop what?” The SPARTAN questioned.

Light flooded into the gym from the outside.

Will frowned. “Is someone out there.”

The SPARTAN pulled Cortana’s chip. Her hologram projected above it, looking muted. “What did you do?”

Cortana couldn’t respond.

“Bad men.” El spoke up from across the room.

“Oh s _hit_!” Dustin spat. “Lando Calrissian!”

Nancy and Jonathan came running back from the hallway. “What’s going on?” Nancy questioned.

The doors flung open, and Hopper and Joyce came running back inside. “There are soldiers out there.” The cop heaved.

The SPARTAN’s head whipped back to Cortana.

“Chief…” The AI began.

“We’ll talk about this later.” The SPARTAN cut her off, slotting the chip back in. The SPARTAN turned to Hopper. “How many?”

“I don’t know for sure. But there was a whole convoy.” Hopper responded. “They’ve got the building surrounded.”

“We need to get out of here.” The SPARTAN stated. “Does anyone know how to use a gun?”

Out of the group, only three people held up their hands. Jonathan, Hopper, and Will. Hopper already had a gun, and there was no way he was giving one to a child.

The SPARTAN took the magnum from his side, handing it over to Jonathan, as well as a few extra magazines.

“Everyone, get behind me.” The SPARTAN ordered, taking the assault rifle from its holster.

The Master Chief took point, down one of the hallways branching off from the gym. It was a risk, going deeper into the school, but it would allow the enemy only a few angles of attack, as opposed to the outside.

They turned a corner towards one of the exits. The exit door at the end kicked open, and soldiers poured in.

The Chief wasted no time, taking aim and pulling the trigger. The assault rifle’s gunfire sounded like a revving chainsaw, and the bullets ripped into the soldiers.

“Fall back!” The SPARTAN called to his charges, still providing covering fire as more soldiers poured in through the entrance. “Go, go, go!”

The group rounded the corner once more, away from the gym. The SPARTAN could hear the frantic shouting as they came back, away from another group of soldiers. One third, final group came from the direction of the gym, led by an older blonde woman.

A thousand scenarios went through the SPARTAN’s head. Throwing down grenades, jumping off walls, throwing enemy soldiers into each other, all options were considered.

But for the first time, the SPARTAN found himself in a situation he couldn’t get out of. No matter what he did, the rest of his group would be caught in the crossfire. Some, possibly even all, would die.

The enemy had them. They could’ve killed all of them right there, took Eleven, and the SPARTAN wouldn’t have been able to stop them.

The soldiers, however, stopped firing.

The soldiers’ eyes widened, and they began shaking, as blood began to fall from their eyes, noses, and even ears.

The SPARTAN turned to his charges and figured out why.

Eleven, with the single most intense look of hatred, contempt, and anger the SPARTAN had ever seen, glared at the lead woman.

With a sickening squelch, every soldier in the vicinity fell to the ground.

El, too, dropped like a sack of rocks.

The children were the first at her side.

“El,” Mike shook her, “El, are you okay? El! Something’s wrong!”

“She’s just drained.” Dustin pointed out.

“No, no, no, she won’t wake up! El!” The boy worriedly shouted.

“I’ve got her.” The SPARTAN stepped over the boys, picking the girl up, slinging her over his shoulder. “Let’s go.”

“Put the child down.” A voice from behind ordered.

The SPARTAN turned around.

Doctor Brenner was standing, flanked by a team of soldiers, their weapons trained on each member of the group.

The bootfalls behind him signal to the SPARTAN that yet more soldiers were approaching.

“Drop your weapons!” A soldier to the side yelled.

Hopper and Jonathan glanced at each other and followed suit with their pistols.

A light slowly sparked overhead.

“Now… the girl.” Brenner repeated.

“And if I don’t?” The SPARTAN questioned.

Brenner glanced at the soldiers.

“John…” Eleven stirred.

“Don’t worry.” The SPARTAN replied. “I’m not letting them get you.”

“Run...” El whispered.

“ _What?”_

“Blood.”

“Chief, we’ve got portal activity!” Cortana warned. “Right on top of us!”

The lights overhead began to flicker, and the soldiers looked around in confusion.

“Blood.” Jonathan repeated, comprehension dawning. “Blood!”

The wall behind Brenner and his soldiers cracked and twisted, a hand tearing through.

“Demogorgon.” Dustin realized, as the creature emerged fully.

The soldiers behind them pushed the group out of the way, opening fire on the Demogorgon.

“Shit!” Lucas yelled. “Run!”

“Take her!” The SPARTAN ordered, passing El over to Hopper. “All of you get to a safe location!”

“Where are you going!?” The cop yelled back, taking the child.

“I’m going to fight.” The Master Chief replied, picking up his weapons off the ground. “Go!” He repeated, and the group retreated down the hallway.

_(<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6EHkAvFKec>)_

The Demogorgon leapt on top of Brenner, tearing into the man’s throat, even as the soldiers fired on it. It turned and screeched at the others, ripping into them with a clawed hand. One by one, each one of the men fell, into pools of their own blood.

The SPARTAN charged, striking into the creature’s side, tackling it through the concrete wall and to the ground. The SPARTAN balled his fist, and _punched,_ as hard as he could. A tank’s armor plating would have trouble holding up against the force the Chief put behind his punch.

The bones in the Demogorgon’s head shattered from the punch, and black oily blood was sent splattering all over the place, the Demogorgon letting out an agonized snarl, pushing the SPARTAN off it, and into a wall. The SPARTAN pulled himself up quickly, and the Demogorgon clawed at the wall, trying to open another portal.

It wouldn’t succeed, unlike the last time.

The Chief grabbed one of the alien’s legs, the creature’s bones cracking underneath the immense pressure of the SPARTAN’s grip. The SPARTAN swung the Demogorgon like it was a ragdoll, slamming it up and down into the floor.

The Demogorgon got back up, on one staggering leg, and charged the SPARTAN, knocking the armored giant into the ground. The floor underneath cracked under the force, and the Chief’s shields fell, his armor sparking with yellow bolts of electricity

The Master Chief held out two hands and gripped onto the Demogorgon’s snapping maw. The SPARTAN headbutted the creature, sending more globs of the creature’s blood flying out, and the creature itself staggering off him.

The SPARTAN got to his feet, his eyes landing on a fire extinguisher on the wall. He pulled it off, case and all, and sent it hurtling towards the Demogorgon.

The extinguisher hit and exploded into a cloud of CO2, stunning the Demogorgon, allowing the SPARTAN to simply walk up to the creature and punch it through another, undamaged wall, in a mix of blood and concrete dust.

The SPARTAN looked to the hole that had been created in the concrete and spotted a water pipe that had been busted by the crash.

The SPARTAN ripped the pipe out of the concrete and ran it through the Demogorgon’s torso. As the creature staggered in pain, the SPARTAN lifted a leg, and stomped on the Demogorgon’s other leg, right where its knee was located.

The leg snapped and popped, the knee bending in entirely the wrong direction. The SPARTAN ripped the pipe back out, and swung it like a club, across the side of the Demogorgon’s head.

The creature fell to the ground and started desperately clawing. Not to open a portal, but just to get away from the SPARTAN.

The Chief didn’t allow it.

The SPARTAN grabbed the pipe again, pinned the Demogorgon in place with his leg, and ran the pipe through the creature’s back, all the way into the floor.

The creature howled and struggled, still trying to claw its way forward.

The SPARTAN planted both of his feet on the Demogorgon’s arms, and grabbed onto the creature’s maw. It kicked and struggled even harder.

But it just wasn’t in a position to get a level up on the SPARTAN, and after a second of making sure his hands weren’t going anywhere, the Chief pulled.

_Hard._

The creature screeched and kicked, trying to flail its way out of the predicament it was in. All it did was make the SPARTAN pull harder.

The Demogorgon screeched as its mandibles cracked, the bones in its arms fractured, and its spine stretched out.

And then, the Demogorgon’s head came clean off.

The rest of the Demogorgon’s body instantly went limp, blood oozing from the wounds scattered all over it.

The SPARTAN let out a finished sigh and threw the head to the ground.

“Cortana?”

“It’s dead…” She breathed.

“And the enemy soldiers?”

“No enemy presence detected.” She reported. “I don’t… I don’t think I’ve ever seen you get that brutal, ever.”

“Where are the others?” The SPARTAN questioned.

“Scanning.” The AI replied. “They’re in a classroom three-hundred feet down the east hallway.”

The SPARTAN nodded, and sped down the hallway in question.

The moment he stepped through the door, he was met with relief from everyone inside, the children especially.

However, there was still a bated breath being held by everyone in the room. They knew he’d fought the Demogorgon, but they didn’t know the outcome of the battle.

El, who was back on her feet at this point, approached the SPARTAN, and looked him up and down. “Dead?”

The SPARTAN nodded. “It’s dead.”

The kids broke out into excited cheers. Nancy and Jonathan, still reeling from the news of Barb, could only offer a sad smile. And Hopper and Joyce were just glad the kids were fine.

“So…” Will was the first one to speak up. “Now what do we do?”

The SPARTAN kept quiet for a moment. “Do any of you have some power tools I could borrow?”


	16. Home

“…And you say that there has been no sign of the girl since that night?“ The man in the suit questioned.

“I told you people for the hundredth time.” Hopper began, gritting his teeth. “She took all of us down and ran into the night. None of us have seen her since.”

“I see.” The man scribbled something down on his notepad. “Well then, Mister Hopper, everything seems to check out. Now, though I’m sure a civil servant such as yourself understands the importance of discretion, I should say that attempts to… relay what you’ve seen to anyone outside our approved list will violate the terms of our agreement.” The man handed a card with a phone number scribbled on it, and a check for a substantial amount to Hopper. “If you have any questions or… concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact Sam Owens at the Department of Energy. Good day.” The man straightened his tie, got up from the chair, and left Hopper’s trailer.

Once the man got into his car and pulled off, Hopper whistled six notes, the code that been agreed upon previously.

Eleven stepped out from behind a panel in Hopper’s trailer. Following her, was a man entering his early 40s, built like a bodybuilder, and even more pale than the girl he followed. His hair was buzzcut, his face and arms were covered in long scars, and blue eyes continually searched the area for danger.

“Are they gone?” John, finally free of his MJOLNIR armor, wearing some clothes that the police chief had been kind enough to loan him, asked of Hopper.

“Yeah,” Hopper nodded, “The last guy finally left, but he did leave this.” Hopper handed John the check.

“Fifty-thousand dollars?” John read.

“About five-hundred thousand credits, in our money.” Cortana whispered from the neural interface.

“Hush money.” Hopper explained. “We all got a check to keep quiet.”

“That’s a lot of money.” John moved to hand it back to Hopper.

Hopper cut him off with a wave of his hand. “Keep it. I might need it, but you’ll need it more.” Catching the SPARTAN’s cocked eyebrow, Hopper added; “What? You didn’t expect to crash in Wheeler’s basement forever, did you?”

John shook his head. “I can’t buy a house; I don’t exist here. And she’s” He jerked a thumb to El, “Still wanted by your government.”

“I didn’t suggest buying a house with it.” Hopper pointed out. Seeing that the SPARTAN was still at a loss, he sighed. “Look, there’s enough money there to keep you afloat for a while, at least until all of this blows over.” Hopper walked back into his bedroom, and John could hear drawers sliding open and shut, and Hopper came back holding a keyring.

He dropped it into the SPARTAN’s hand.

“What is this for?” John questioned.

“There’s an old cabin out in the woods,” Hopper began, “used to belong to my grandfather.”

“You’re giving me a house?”

“I’m not _giving_ you anything.” Hopper corrected. “The place is a mess, filled with lots of my old stuff. I haven’t been there in years. But I guess today’s a good start.”

* * *

John tested the floor with his foot. Feeling that it didn’t give way, the SPARTAN turned to El, and gave a single nod. The pieces of armor that were floating along behind them floated through the door and stacked themselves up in a corner of the room. El wiped her nose a moment later.

“Fixer-upper.” El commented, looking around the inside of the cabin. The glass was smudged, cobwebs hung from corner to corner, and everything was coated in a thick layer of dust.

“Yeah, kid.” Hopper agreed, moving a box labeled Sara out of the way, he turned back to John. “So, what do you think?”

John took in the state of the place. There was no way it was up to code. It was a bit removed from the rest of the town, but according to Hopper, the place still got electricity and running water, and its distance from the rest of civilization would serve well to keep him and Eleven (especially Eleven) safe. And he _had_ been forced to live in worse places during some of his deployments.

The SPARTAN nodded.

“Great.” Hopper said in response. “The two of you are going to have to lay low for a while, but everything should be safe out here.”

“Thanks.” John replied, shaking Hopper’s hand.

“Don’t mention it. I’ll be back soon with some supplies.” And the police chief left, disappearing into the woods.

El was walking through the cabin curiously, taking a look at the old fridge, television, and assorted objects throughout the place.

“So…” John grabbed her attention. “What do _you_ think?”

El examined the place even more carefully, if that was possible, and ran a finger over an old table. Her face crinkled with revulsion at the thick layer of dust that stuck to her finger.

She turned back to John and smiled.

“Home.”


End file.
